Is Trump’s ‘baby bond’ really pro-child? No – children need a fair society to thrive | Polly Toynbee

Around the world, the right is trumpeting its pronatalist policies. But bribing women to have babies will never lead to a healthy societyTurning children into capitalists – that’s the purpose behind the new “Trump account”, which will give every new baby born in the US during the president’s second term $1,000 to be invested in the stock market. Now, little shareholders can identify with the US companies they invest in. “Hey … I own 50 bucks of McDonald’s” was an example given by senator Ted Cruz. This is a surprise element in Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill”, which gives $1.1tn in tax cuts to the very rich funded by cutting Medicaid, food assistance and the education department.This joins a range of policies from rightwing parties around the world which look, on the face of it, to be pro-child or pro-family. In Hungary, Viktor Orbán announced an income tax exemption for mothers of two or three children – previously, only mothers of four or more children were exempt. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage in the UK has proclaimed that Reform would end the two-child benefit cap.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...