Letters to the Editor: White House’s proposed incentives to get women to have more babies are half-baked

To the editor: I was fascinated by columnist Robin Abcarian’s recent story about the White House entertaining ideas on how to get American women to have more babies (“The government’s pronatalism warps family values,” April 27). Among these ideas is offering a $5,000 bonus after a baby is born. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the criteria that will determine who is eligible for this bonus.

Must one be married? Young? Fit? White? Employed? Wealthy? Christian? Able-bodied? What if someone has had a brush with the law? Or is battling a serious disease? I’m sure, given this administration’s track record, this idea is as well thought out as all the others we’ve seen over the past 100 days.

Valerie Burchfield Rhodes, Laguna Niguel

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To the editor: Do I have this straight? Our president wants to give $5,000 to any woman in the U.S. who has a baby and awards to mothers of six children or more. Our government also wants to defund Head Start, a program that provides daycare for families with limited means. So the family should accept the $5,000 and mom won’t work? I don’t know how far $5,000 goes these days, but I suspect the financial calculations don’t actually work out that well.

Erica Hahn, Monrovia