Across social media and in interviews, Elon Musk has repeatedly aired his concerns about the declining birth rate, calling it “the biggest danger civilization faces” and urging his followers to have more kids. Musk, who has fathered at least 11 children, seems to have made this a personal mission. Just this week, the New York Times reported that Elon Musk has now quietly built a sprawling mansion in Austin in the hopes of creating a “family compound” for his many children and their mothers.

While Musk has espoused the value of having children—even offering up his own sperm to friends and acquaintances, according to the Times—he has stopped short of endorsing the kinds of federal policies that would help families actually raise more children. Musk has continued to enthusiastically support Donald Trump’s presidential run, pouring nearly $120 million into a super PAC dedicated to boosting Trump’s campaign.

Until recently, Trump has shown little support for policies that would benefit families. Since joining the Republican ticket, JD Vance has often talked about childcare costs on the campaign trail; during the vice presidential debate, he also reiterated his commitment to “pro-family policies.” But these comments have not yielded concrete proposals from the Trump campaign. In fact, Vance has frequently cited help from family members as a viable solution for parents who are struggling to pay for childcare.

Over the past few months, Kamala Harris has made family policies—issues such as paid family leave and an expanded child tax credit, which have long been policy goals for Democrats—a central part of her campaign. In response, Trump has paid some lip service to these issues; he has claimed to support family leave and increasing the child tax credit. During a September event at the Economic Club of New York, Trump offered an incoherent answer to a question about childcare costs, though he did seem to indicate childcare should be more affordable. 

It’s not clear how exactly—or if—he plans to actually do any of that. Republicans have historically blocked family policies like paid leave and an expanded child tax credit, which would require more government spending. And Trump’s track record in office doesn’t exactly inspire confidence: While Trump did increase the annual child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 during his presidency, he did not extend it to the lowest-income families. (Harris’s plan, on the other hand, is to restore the larger child tax credit that was introduced by the Biden administration during the pandemic, which was made available to all families, even those without an income, and reduced child poverty by almost 30%.) Trump also proposed multiple budget cuts to federal programs like Head Start, which help subsidize childcare for low-income families; Congress ultimately rejected these proposals. 

When it comes to family building, Trump has shown little regard for how undoing Roe v. Wade—which he has frequently boasted about in interviews and on social media—has impacted access to not just abortion, but also fertility treatments.

The fall of Roe has sparked court rulings like the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year, which undermined access to fertility treatments such as IVF and could invite similar legal challenges in other states.