There is one European country where finding a decent man isn’t just hard. It’s almost like a public crisis.
In Latvia, where there is a nationwide shortage of men, women have completely given up on swiping right or left.
Instead, they have come up with a unique way to have regular doses of a “husband” in their life.
There is one European country where finding a decent man has become a public crisis
Image credits: Bargais/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
Latvia has one of the most pronounced gender imbalances in Europe.
There are roughly 15% more women than men in the country, according to a Eurostat report from last year.
This is more than three times the average rate in the European Union, which is home to 4.4% more women than men.
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Moreover, there are twice as many women as men over the age of 65 in Latvia.
With a modern-day problem like this, women in Latvia came up with a modern-day solution to have a husband in their life, minus the actual husband himself.
Women in the Baltic nation have been hiring “husbands for an hour” to do chores around the house.
Women in Latvia have stopped looking for the right man and have started booking one instead
Dating might be completely optional in Latvia. But some women still seek the presence of a husband in their lives, especially to handle some heavy-duty housework once in a while.
Hence, the rent-a-husband industry has been booming in the country, with women booking brawny, muscular men to do repairs and carpentry, fix a broken pipe, assemble some furniture, or even mount a TV for them.
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And the best part is that they can skip the small talk and go straight to checkout.
Paying just a few euros is enough to have their chores taken care of by a hired husband.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” a 29-year-old Latvian woman said about hiring a husband online
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A 29-year-old woman named Dania said there is “nothing wrong” with hiring men as their “husbands” to do housework.
While speaking to The Sun, Dania said she works at festivals, and 98% of her colleagues are women.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said about hiring husbands. She nevertheless acknowledged how it would still be more “interesting” to have men around for more than just housework.
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“Just for the good balance, you would want to have some more men to flirt or chat with. It’s just more interesting,” she said.
Some women in Latvia are seeking solutions to the country’s male shortage by looking abroad.
“That’s why all my friends have gone abroad and found boyfriends there,” Dania’s friend Zane told the outlet.
One Latvian company’s website says it is offering “men with golden hands”
A Latvian company named Komanda 24 has been offering “men with golden hands” in the country.
“Men with golden hands come 7 days a week throughout the territory of Latvia to help with household and repair works,” read director Aleksandrs’ quote on the company’s website.
Another service named Remontdarbi.lv also allows women to hire a “husband for an hour,” and the men will show up at their doorstep within 60 minutes.
There are numerous reasons behind the drought of men in Latvia
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It is believed there are numerous reasons behind the shortage of men in Latvia. And most of it comes down to differences in general health and lifestyles between men and women.
Poor male health, with men having a much lower life expectancy, was one of the reasons cited by the World Atlas for the shortage.
The website said men are also three times more likely to smoke, with 31% of the male population smoking compared to just 10% of the female population.
Image credits: Bellezas del Este in English/YouTube
When it comes to obesity, men once again had higher numbers than women. 62% of Latvian men were obese or overweight, in comparison to 57% of women.
Latvia is certainly not the only country where the rent-a-husband business is seeing an uptick.
Hire A Hubby calls itself the UK’s largest handyman franchise group, providing “complete property maintenance and handyman service.”
Image credits: Bellezas del Este in English/YouTube
Furthermore, a British couple also went viral in 2022 after wife Laura Young started offering her husband, James, for extra cash.
James could be hired as a “handy husband,” taking on tasks ranging from tiling to carpet laying, from DIY to painting, and more. He charges anything between $44 per hour and about $280 for a day.
Business became so popular for James that he had to turn down jobs on certain occasions.
Netizens had mixed reactions to Latvia’s rent-a-husband industry
