If you scan social media, the conversation about American families seems like a cesspool: arguments abound over whether podcaster Alex Cooper’s pregnancy is hypocritical, whether “girlbosses” are to blame for America’s declining birth rate, and whether environmental toxins are sending teenagers’ sperm count plummeting. Beyond the rage-bait, however, positive momentum is building around an idea that will actually help new parents and their children: just pay them.

A few weeks ago, Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi and Debbie Dingell, and Republican Reps. David Valadao and Blake Moore introduced the Supporting Newborn Parents Act. The Act would create a new, fully refundable $2,000 tax credit that parents could get immediately upon having a child. It’s designed to be as seamless as government benefits can be: parents would apply for the credit in the hospital at the same time they’re filling out their newborn’s paperwork for getting a Social Security number. The Social Security Administration would then relay the relevant information to the Internal Revenue Service, which would promptly send a payment.

This approach helps parents right when they need it rather than making them wait until tax time or go through an onerous separate application process. As Leah Sargeant of the Niskanen Center think tank has written, “A newborn credit allows parents to receive a timely family benefit just as they hit the financial shock of a baby. In the months following the birth of a child, families see their household income drop by 10 percent on average. At the same time, their expenses surge.”