Does Project 2025 say, "The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children"? No, that's not true: Nowhere in Project 2025's book "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise" does it say that. Instead, it states, "Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads on August 5, 2024, under the title "Take this one down Facebook." The meme said:
Project 2025
Page 451
'The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children.'
Retweet so all Americans see this.
This is what the post looked like on Threads at the time of writing:
(Source: Threads screenshot taken on Tue Aug 6 15:23:37 2024 UTC)
The post cites page 451 of "Mandate for Leadership," the official name of the 887-page comprehensive policy guide of the Project 2025 initiative, as the source of the quote of what constitutes a "valid family."
The sentence attributed to the book, "The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children," is not found on page 451 of the publication or anywhere else in "Mandate for Leadership." Neither is the shorter phrase "valid family."
However, the conservative initiative does make its preferences clear. On page 451, under a section titled "Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families," it says:
Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society.
The section goes on to say:
Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden's HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] are fraught with agenda items focusing on 'LGBTQ+ equity,' subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.
Working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children, but the United States is experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children's futures. In the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure, and a host of behavioral and psychological problems. By contrast, homes with non-related 'boyfriends' present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies.
The policy guide makes no mention of working mothers.
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Other fact check agencies have reviewed similar claims, including Snopes, USA Today and VERIFY
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