S. Korea to Workers: Go Home and Make Babies

Office lights out at 7 last night in effort to boost birth rate
By Nx Doyle,  Newser User
Posted Jan 21, 2010 2:05 PM CST Posted Jan 21, 2010 2:05 PM CST
Promoted on Newser Jan 21, 2010 2:05 PM CST
S. Korea to Workers: Go Home and Make Babies
   (AP)

South Korea's government has issued an unusual directive to its workers: Go home and make babies. Faced with an aging population and one of the world's lowest birth rates, Ministry of Health officials enforced the order by switching off all the lights in their building at 7pm last night. The monthly Wednesday-night experiment joins other initiatives to boost procreation, including social gatherings to foster potential couplings and incentives in the form of gift vouchers, reports the BBC.

Commenters on the BBC story say the go-home-early ploy points out what ridiculously long hours South Koreans put in at work, and argue that measures to cut the prohibitive cost of child care and education would be more effective at encouraging citizens to have another child.
(More South Korea stories.)

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