A local official in Sweden has a novel proposal to improve work-life balance and lift the local birthrate — give municipal employees an hour-long paid break each week to go home and have sex.
Sweden is already celebrated for its generous welfare state, including 480 days of paid parental leave, and universal healthcare.
Per-Erik Muskos, a 42-year-old councilor in the northern town of Overtornea, wants to add to those benefits by offering the municipality’s 550 employees the right to subsidized sex.
In introducing his proposal this week, he told fellow members of the town council that it would give a nudge to the dwindling local population, add spice to aging marriages and improve employee morale.
The idea quickly got attention all over Sweden, where for at least some, it was a welcome distraction from US President Donald Trump’s vague reference to problems the nation was having with immigration, which were strongly denied by baffled Swedes.
Noting that “sex is also a great form of exercise and has documented positive effects on well-being,” Muskos suggested that local municipal employees could use an hour of the workweek already allotted for fitness activities to go home and have sex with their spouses or partners instead.
The motion, which is expected to be voted on in the spring, needs a simple majority to be passed by the 31-member council.
As of now, opinion on the town council is divided.
“We should encourage procreation. I believe that sex is often in short supply. Everyday life is stressful and the children are at home,” Muskos said in his motion in the town of about 4,500 in the picturesque and remote Torne Valley. “This could be an opportunity for couples to have their own time, only for each other.”
His proposal has generated praise, ridicule and criticism.
Some critics fear single workers could while away their working hours on the dating app Tinder trying to find a date for their weekly interlude.
When Muskos introduced the motion on Monday, some council members giggled, while others said they were not amused, but befitting a progressive nation which has long been perceived as a beacon of sexual enlightenment councilors took the proposal in their stride.
Muskos told his colleagues the proposal was no joke, though he acknowledged practical problems such as enforcement. It would be difficult to tell, for example, if an employee eschewed sex in favor of a walk in the country.
Sweden has among the highest fertility rates in the EU, according to Eurostat, the bloc’s statistic agency, in part because of the nation’s generous parental leave systems and immigration, but the fertility rate has nevertheless been decreasing.
Malin Hansson, 41, a sexologist and specialist in reproductive health in Gothenburg, applauded the initiative, arguing that sex reduces stress, improves sleep and strengthens immunity, while enriching intimacy between couples.
“If it was up to me, I would introduce this across the country,” Hansson said. “In Sweden, sex is considered just another activity.”
Others were more skeptical.
Tomas Vedestig, 42, a left-leaning municipal councilor in Overtornea said that when Muskos made his pitch, his colleagues were so taken aback that they thought they had misheard him.
Vedestig said the proposal was intrusive and threatened to embarrass people who do not have sexual partners, do not want to have sex or who have medical conditions that preclude sex.
“I don’t think it’s the employer’s business to to say: ‘Go home for an hour and make babies,’” he said.
Others worried the proposal was too stingy.
“I spoke to a couple of older gentlemen who said: ‘One hour? That is not enough time,’” one said.
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