Flint, me. (AP) – A procession of mothers who wear red sash, pushing strollers and tends to petite children found a petite festival in Flint, Michigan on Friday, on which on the way to a petite festival in Flint, Michigan, where families were playing diapers and children.
A “baby shell” was called.
The wings showed that the women were participants of a growing program in Michigan, the pregnant women and new mothers helped them to give them cash in the first year of their children’s life. The program was launched in 2024 and comes at a time when many voters are concerned about the costs of childcare and the administration of President Donald Trump drives the guidelines for the falling birth rate.
RX Kids supports a mix of state, local and philanthropic money and gives mothers of newborns up to 7,500 US dollars, without income requirements and without rules for the expense of money. Supporters believe that the program could be a model to alleviate the high costs for children in the USA
“There are all possible reasons, no matter how your political affiliation or ideology this is,” said Senator John Damoose, a republican and passionate supporter of the program.
How the program works
In order to qualify, women have to prove that they live in a participating place and are pregnant, but do not have to share any details about their income.
It is designed so that it is elementary.
In the first six to twelve months of their babies’ life, pregnant women receive 500 US dollars every month before childbirth and 500 US dollars, depending on the program location.
Dr. Mona Hanna, a pediatrician, Associate Dean for Public Health am Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and the founding director of the program, said that windows were a time with great economic susceptibility to new parents – and a critical development time for babies.
Most participants need diapers, formula, breastfeeding devices and baby clothes, but the needs of every family are different. The monthly payment can also assist buy food and to cover rent, supply companies and means of transport.
For some mothers, the additional money enables you to afford childcare and return to work. For others it allows you to stay at home longer.
The previous program is available in Flint, Pontiac, Kalamazoo and five counties on the upper peninsula of Michigan. It will expand into a rural district of Michigan and several cities near Detroit by autumn.
Hanna said the main feedback she hears is that the program should be bigger. It is heard by legislators and others, hoping to start similar programs in other states.
What is the influence?
Hanna said the data of the program show that almost all pregnant women in Flint have registered since their available disposal.
The locations were designed so that they target families with low incomes, although there is no need for income. Luke Shaefer, professor of public order at the University of Michigan and co -founder of RX Kids, said they want to eliminate all stigmatization or obstacles that prevent people from registering.
The founders also want mothers to feel celebrated, hence the parade on Friday.
“Mothers have been disparaged and not supported that long,” said Hanna.
Friends told Angela Sintery, 44, about RX children when she found out that she was pregnant with her second child. She is a preschool teacher who has spread the word to other parents.
Sintery had her first daughter 19 years before her second and had to buy all new baby needs.
She said that the money provided by RX Kids would have been helpful when she had her first child at the age of 24 before she went to college.
“So this time I didn’t have to emphasize anything about something. I just had to take care of my baby,” she said.
Celeste Lord-Timlin, a Flint resident and program participant, visited the baby arade with her husband and a 13-month-old daughter at her side. She said the deposits had helped her pay the graduate school while she was pregnant.
“It enabled us to really be new parents,” she said.
Change the conversation
The program is strongly based on philanthropic donations, but Hanna’s long -term goal is that the government is the main provider.
“I see philanthropy as a Doula of this program, they help at birth,” she said. “They help us to prove that this is possible.”
Democrats in the State Senate in Michigan introduced laws in February that provide the program of every pregnant woman in the state, and it has non -partisan support. However, since shared legislation can only adopt six invoices this year, it is unlikely that the program will soon be expanded nationwide.
Even Damoose, among the program’s top supporters, said that he doesn’t think Michigan can afford nationwide expansion. But the legislator, which represents parts of the upper peninsula of Michigan, wants to continue growing.
For other Republicans who oppose abortion, the approach is a “no breeze” to assist pregnant women, said Damoose.
“We have accused for years and not for no reason to be unburt, but not for life,” he said. “And this is a way for us to put our money where our mouth is.”
The costs for children
A new movement of pro-natalistic political personalities, including Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk and other members of Trump’s periphery, have shaped the country’s degenerating birth rate.
A recently carried out survey with Associated Press-Norc showed that most Americans want the government to focus on the high costs of childcare-not only the number of babies born here.
According to Trump’s tax and expenditure calculation, which the Congress passed in July, the tax credit for children from 2,000 US dollars for child tax credit will be increased to $ 2,200. But millions of families with low incomes will not receive full credit.
The invoice will also set up a new children’s savings program called Trump Accounts with a potential down payment of 1,000 US dollars.
This is only available when children grow up and focus more on creating prosperity than on immediate relief, said Hanna.
“We don’t have this social infrastructure to invest in our families,” said Hanna. “No wonder that people have no children and our birth rates are falling.”
The Trump administration also played with the idea of giving families $ 5,000 “baby bonus”, a guideline that resembles RX kids.
Critics rightly pointed out that the costs for childcare or other expenses are not nearly. However, the defenders of a cash-in-hand approach say that every amount can assist in these critical early months.
“I think it is part of a new narrative or the revival of an old story in which we start celebrating children and families,” said Damoose.
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The Associated Press Writer Mike Householder contributed to this report.
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The women of the Associated Press in the covering of the workforce and the state government receive financial support from crucial companies. The AP is only responsible for all content. Find the standards of AP for working with philanthropias, a list of supporters and financed coverage areas at Ap.org.
