The US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will prioritise families by giving preference to communities with higher marriage and birth rates when awarding infrastructure grants.

The move is part of a broader “family-friendly” agenda, most recently articulated by Vice President JD Vance who declared it “the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids” and to “raise thriving and healthy families in our country.”

Family groups praised the initiative saying transportation spending has often been directed toward large, urban projects that end up favouring denser communities which are associated with lower family formation — less marriage and fewer children.

Brad Wilcox of the Institute for Family Studies said the new policy will likely “reorient transportation dollars to lower-density communities where there are more single-family homes, family life is often more affordable, and family formation is higher”.