Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes

[tominator89]

Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes

By The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 08/15/2007 12:42:25 AM MDT

 

Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

 

The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.

 

Ulyanovsk, about 550 miles east of Moscow, has held similar contests since 2005. Since then, the number of competitors, and the number of babies born to them, has been on the rise.

 

Russia, with one-seventh of Earth's land surface, has just 141.4 million citizens, making it one of the most sparsely settled countries in the world. With a low birth rate and a high death rate, the population has been shrinking since the early 1990s.

 

In his state-of-the-nation address last year, President Vladimir Putin called the demographic crisis the most acute problem facing Russia and announced a broad effort to boost Russia's birth rate, including cash incentives to families that have more than one child.

 

Ulyanovsk Gov. Sergei Morozov has added an element of fun to the national campaign.

 

The 2007 grand prize went to Irina and Andrei Kartuzov, who received a UAZ-Patriot, a sport utility vehicle. Other contestants won video cameras, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines.

 

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6624865

[Jingus]

The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.

This has bad idea written all over it. Expecting couples are going to try to hold back any baby born before the day, and prematurely induce labor for any not born by then, all in order to nail that one day. They're gonna have a lot of dead babies.

[Sideburnious]

The main problem will be all those birthday presents at the same time!!!!

 

 

 

 

Oh and now instead of telling your child they were an accident, you can tell them they were only for a fridge.

[godthedog]

haven't most civilized western countries started to have declining populations in the last 10 or 20 years?

[In Credible]

Then they just have to figure out how to get money to live on!

[Big Ol' Smitty]

haven't most civilized western countries started to have declining populations in the last 10 or 20 years?

 

Not all are declining, but they definitely have lower birthrates.