The claim: Page 451 of Project 2025 says the ‘only valid family’ includes a working father, stay-at-home mother
A July 20 Instagram post ( direct link , archive link ) includes what it claims is a quote from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
“Project 2025 Page 451,” reads the start of the post. “‘The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children.’”
It was liked more than 100 times in four days. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter .
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Our rating: False
The specified page does not say that, and the Heritage Foundation said the claim is false. The section advocates for policies that “support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families” but does not say that is the only valid family structure. It does not mention stay-at-home mothers.
Project describes nuclear family as 'foundation' of society
The claim is “another lie” about the project, Heritage Foundation spokesperson Ellen Keenan told USA TODAY.
The sentence mentioned in the social media posts does not appear on page 451 or elsewhere in Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership ,” Keenan said. The 887-page document is a political playbook filled with policy recommendations for the next Republican president.
That page, does, however, mention family structures. As part of a chapter on the Department of Health and Human Services, the page outlines a goal for the agency: “promoting stable and flourishing married families.”
“Families comprised of a married mother, father and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society,” reads the start of the section.
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It goes on to criticize family-related policies under President Joe Biden’s administration and calls for them to be “repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.”
Contrary to the social media posts' claim, neither that page, nor any other part of the playbook, mentions stay-at-home mothers.
It does discuss the importance of working fathers in 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,” part of the section reads.
It lists the benefits of paternal involvement in a child’s life and says the Department of Health and Human Services should “prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health and welfare policies.”
There is no specific mention of working mothers, though in a later section it suggests providing funding directly to parents rather than providing universal daycare "to offset the cost of staying home with a child or to pay for familial,in-home childcare."
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that Project 2025 calls for women to carry “period passports” and that it’s a plan from former President Donald Trump .
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment. One user responded saying they did not know where the claim originated.
Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Project 2025 touts benefits of 'stable, married, nuclear families' | Fact check
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