We are asking U.S. Sen. Cory Booker to focus on changing the way Americans plan families as the most effective way to prevent pandemics. The science is clear: Overcrowding helps drive pandemics and worsens their impact. Insufficient family planning policies, both here in the United States and at the United Nations, exacerbate that threat, ensuring much more crowding in cities as world population is set to grow by billions of people in our lifetimes.

Stimulus packages provide a unique opportunity to stabilize today's families while protecting future generations. Having Kids is asking Booker and his colleagues to align future stimulus packages with the priorities of a child-centered Fair Start model. We specifically recommend the following strategies:

• Guaranteeing a sustainable child income through baby bonds 
• Expressly protecting family planning services in stimulus legislation 
• Expanding access to long-acting reversible contraceptives 
• Considering measures to prevent child abuse 

We can fight pandemics and other threats by promoting smaller and more equitable families. We just have to refocus our family planning systems around what every child needs. Please add your name to our letter to Sen. Booker urging him to pursure Fair Start funding in the next stimulus package.