Couples In Danish Town Agree To Have More Sex In Order To Save Vital Public Services

While Scandinavians have long been known for their quirkiness, the latest reports out of Denmark take the biscuit. Couples living in a small rural town have agreed to have more sex in order to make more babies, thereby saving vital public services from closing.

What’s more, according to a report in the Guardian, the couples from the town of Thisted are making the deal directly with the town council, although it will be interesting to see how such an agreement could be monitored.

For the council officials in Thisted, more babies need to be born if the people in the town want to keep schools, nurseries and other facilities open.

As well as countries like Japan, Denmark is contending with a rapidly declining birthrate, with just 1.7 children born on average per couple, while in Thisted that rate is even lower at 1.6, with a total population of around in 14,000 people.

According to Lars Sloth, director of Thisted council, the unusual deal was vital in order to sustain a certain number of young people in the town, many of whom leave for university and do not return upon completion of their studies.

The deal was suggested, as pointed out by Sloth, by a citizen organization at a meeting with the local community over facilities closing due to the low birth rate.

As Sloth said, “We had a hearing with the local community and asked them what we could do about institutions closing and so few babies being born. One of the citizens’ organisations suggested this ‘deal’ as an option. It’s an unusual way of doing things, but we had to do something to save our town and maintain a certain number of children in the community.”

And this isn’t the first time Denmark has tried to encourage its citizens to have more babies; a campaign back in 2014 by a travel agency called, “Do it for Denmark” offered Danes the chance of a free holiday if they reproduce during a trip away.

According to Sloth, the residents of Thisted are thrilled about the new initiative.

“The threat of shutting schools is over for now,” he said. “We just need to figure out how to monitor the plan and see how many more children come along.”