Poland's Government Encourages Couples To Mate Like 'Rabbits'

The Polish government is trying to battle historically low birth rates in the country by encouraging couples to multiply like rabbits. Poland’s Ministry of Health released a video last week telling couples “if you ever want to be a parent, follow the example of rabbits,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The video, published on YouTube, depicted a number of rabbits narrating the secrets of creating their big families which include exercise, a healthy diet and little stress.

Poland has the second lowest birth rate in the European Union, around 1.32 children per woman, and the government is attempting to reverse that trend. The country of 38 million ranks just above Portugal and just below Spain and Greece for birth rates.

The public service video was meant to encourage a healthy lifestyle amongst younger Polish people as a way to improve their reproductive health. In a statement to the AP, the government said they wanted to encourage reproductive health in a way that “did not offend anyone and was not vulgar.” Though the video does not appear to be very popular, dislikes are outpacing likes on the YouTube video 10 to one.

Poland was expected to lose 14 percent of its population by 2050, according to United Nations data.

Poland joins several other countries dealing with declining populations. Japan has several programs that aim to incentivize couples to have children, including direct payments to help defray the cost of having children. Other large countries with declining populations include Russia, Ukraine, Thailand and Germany.