The Heritage Foundation released a report urging the U.S. government to prioritize marriage and the formation of families, including proposals aimed at shifting how federal policy supports family life. The report calls for a “marriage bootcamp” to prepare cohabiting couples for marriage and for a “universal day of rest” built on blue laws that limit alcohol sales in some municipalities. It also discourages online dating, citing research that “couples who meet online are also less likely to get married in the first place,” the Associated Press reported.
The Heritage report’s full plan was published Thursday and first reported by The Washington Post, as the organization moves to elevate domestic issues heading into the midterm election year. The AP said the report reflects Heritage’s evolution beyond its earlier small-government roots and describes a broader influence on the populist right.
In the report, the authors said, “The government’s primary role is to clear the weeds and prevent its policies and programs from poisoning the ground,” in language attributed to the report’s authors led by Roger Severino, Heritage’s vice president of economic and domestic policy. The authors added, “Unfortunately, except for radically redefining the institution, marriage is not currently a federal priority.”
The report’s recommendations also set out guidance for how federal policy should treat family formation, according to the AP. It says U.S. policy should “encourage and protect the formation of families, not mere fertility,” and it recommends against policies “that undermine marriage and the formation of families, or reward or encourage needless delay in marriage and out-of-wedlock births.”
Heritage also argues that the tax code “should not penalize marriage and encourage single parenthood,” and that education policy “should not coax young Americans to delay marriage while pursuing needless credentials.” The report further urges President Donald Trump to issue executive orders requiring federal agencies to measure impacts on “marriage and family,” block actions that discriminate against family formation, and give preference to actions supporting American families.
The Associated Press noted that Heritage has previously drawn attention for internal conflict around related debates on conservative politics. In a reference to last year’s controversy involving Heritage President Kevin Roberts, the AP said Roberts defended Tucker Carlson’s podcast interview with Nick Fuentes, which Democrats criticized in the context of allegations about antisemitism in the Republican Party. The AP reported that the comments sparked outrage and led to resignations of Heritage board members, staffers and executives.
The AP also included reaction from Eric Rosswood, the author of “Journey to Parenthood: The Ultimate Guide for Same-Sex Couples,” who said he agrees with some Heritage arguments. Rosswood pointed to the threats of food insecurity and the lack of affordable childcare, but he disagreed with the report’s recommendation that subsidies go toward married families and its view that children are best suited to being raised by their biological parents. “I think what’s due to them is a family that’s going to provide for the children and take care of the children, make sure they have a roof over their head that they have meals, they’re getting to school, parents that support their hobbies and motivate them,” Rosswood said. He added, “I don’t think that those are gender-based. I don’t think that that’s tied to biological genetics. I think that’s what a parent does, regardless of who they are.”
The report also addresses in vitro fertilization, arguing against the practice outside of marriage. The AP reported that Heritage acknowledges IVF can help people facing infertility build families, but it says an “A babies-at-all-costs mentality would come at too great a cost, and not just financially, but morally and spiritually,” and that it “intentionally denies a right due to every child conceived — to be born and grow in relationship with his or her mother and father bound in marriage.” The White House, the AP said, did not immediately comment on the report or on whether anyone in the administration collaborated on it.
The Associated Press said Trump has taken steps related to IVF since taking office for a second term, including an executive order in the first month aimed at reducing costs by requesting policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and “aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.” The AP reported that in October Trump followed with new guidance he described as allowing companies to offer fertility benefits separately from major medical insurance plans, and that a deal with drugmaker EMD Serono was expected to reduce the costs of a common fertility drug.