Young Americans Don’t Need Socialism. They Need Financial Freedom.
By Drake & Jayme Franklin
For the better part of a decade, conservatives have excelled at exposing what’s wrong with the Left’s vision for America. We’ve fought back against open borders, gender ideology, DEI bureaucracies, and an ever expanding federal government.
All are important issues, but if Republicans want to become the political home of the next generation, opposing bad ideas won’t be enough. We have to offer bigger, bolder, unapologetically American ones.
Young Americans are frustrated. They graduated into inflation, watched housing prices skyrocket, delayed marriage because they worried about affording it, and wonder whether they’ll ever own a home or comfortably raise children. They’re not asking for the impossible. They’re asking for the American Dream, the same dream previous generations of Americans achieved.
The political Left has recognized this frustration. Democratic Socialist candidates like New York mayor Zohran Mamdani have become the new Democratic darlings by promising sweeping government solutions: free this, subsidized that, government funded everything. Whether those promises are realistic is beside the point. They are speaking directly to a generation that feels the system isn’t working for them.
Conservatives cannot respond by simply saying “no.” If we want to win the next generation, we have to answer their biggest question: How will you help me build a family and a future?
The difference is that our answer shouldn’t be delivered through big government and Marxist agendas that will ultimately destroy our society, like every other socialist state before. It should come through greater freedom.
That’s why we propose The Young American Family Act.
Under this proposal, married couples under the age of 35 with at least one child would pay zero federal income tax.
This policy wouldn’t be an inflation inducing stimulus check, a complicated tax credit, or another federal program.
This policy is about letting young families keep the money they’ve worked so hard to earn.
The Left believes the government is entitled to your paycheck, and then bureaucrats get to decide what or who to invest in. If you look at the state of many Democrat run municipalities, riddled with homelessness, poverty, crime, and failing schools, it’s obvious that leftist agenda is failing.
Conservatives should believe that if you’re working, building a family, and contributing to society, bureaucrats in Washington shouldn’t be spending your money. You should have the freedom and power to invest your money into what’s best for your family.
Imagine what that could mean for a young couple just starting out. Thousands and thousands of additional dollars every year could go toward a down payment on a first home, diapers, childcare, groceries, paying off student loans, and saving for the future. Instead of creating dependence on government, we would empower families to become more independent from it.
For decades, politicians in both parties have talked about supporting families while making it increasingly expensive to have one.
The Young American Family Act would send a simple message: America values marriage, children, and people willing to build the next generation.
Critics will immediately ask, “How can we afford this?”
A better question is, how can we afford not to invest in young American families?
America is experiencing record low birth rates, declining marriage, and a generation delaying homeownership because the cost of building a family continues to climb. These trends carry enormous long term economic consequences, from a shrinking workforce to slower economic growth and increasing pressure on entitlement programs.
The Young American Family Act is an investment in America’s future.
Conservatives have long argued that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.
Congress could pair this proposal with spending reductions elsewhere in the federal budget, eliminate outdated corporate subsidies, streamline duplicative federal programs, or offset part of the cost through broader tax reform.
One of the federal government’s largest expenditures is Social Security, a program facing mounting fiscal pressure as America’s birth rate declines and the worker to retiree ratio continues to shrink. In 2024 alone, Social Security accounted for approximately 21 percent of all federal spending, roughly $1.5 trillion.
One of the greatest generational injustices in America is that we’re asking young families to shoulder an ever growing tax burden while a much wealthier generation holds the majority of the nation’s wealth.
Baby Boomers collectively hold an estimated more than half of all U.S. household wealth, despite making up only about one fifth of the population. Decades of home appreciation, stock market growth, and retirement savings have left many in that generation financially secure in ways that are increasingly out of reach for younger Americans.
Yet every paycheck, young workers are taxed to finance programs like Social Security and Medicare, while many are left wondering whether those same programs will be fully available when they retire.
This isn’t an argument against honoring the promises we’ve made to today’s retirees. Americans who paid into Social Security throughout their working lives deserve the benefits they earned.
At its core, this is an argument that young families are essential to America’s future and that our tax code should reward, rather than penalize, the decision to marry, have children, and build a family.
The Young American Family Act would be one way to begin restoring that balance by finally making young families a national priority.
If we’re willing to spend billions responding to the consequences of family decline, we should be willing to invest in policies that strengthen the family before those problems emerge.
Some will call this radical. They’re right. But bold doesn’t have to mean socialist.
For years, the progressive movement has succeeded by shifting the Overton window and the national conversation with ambitious ideas. Conservatives often find themselves playing defense, trying to preserve yesterday’s victories while the Left defines tomorrow’s debate.
That has to change.
The answer isn’t to embrace socialism. It’s to be just as ambitious in advancing freedom.
The next generation doesn’t need another lecture about personal responsibility without any recognition of the economic headwinds we’re facing. Nor do they need politicians promising that government can replace family, faith, and personal initiative.
They need leaders willing to remove barriers standing between them and the American Dream.
If Republicans want to become the party of young families again, we should stop asking how little government can do and start asking how much freedom we can give back.
The Young American Family Act would be a good place to start.
After graduating from notoriously leftwing UC Berkeley in 2020, Jayme founded The Conservateur to serve and represent conservative women. Jayme’s previous work experience in the conservative movement includes the United States Senate, the Trump Campaign, the Trump White House, and Fox News. Jayme now lives with her husband, Drake Franklin, and their daughter, Vivienne, in Washington, DC.
