Town May Pay Workers to Take a Sex Break

Spending too much time at work and not enough time with your partner? A Swedish politician has a solution: Employees should be paid to go home and have sex. Per-Erik Muskos, a council member in the small town of Övertorneå, argues that couples aren't spending enough time together and that a one-hour "sex break" per week for the municipality's 550 employees would improve relationships. But that's just one benefit. Muskos says that replacing a one-hour weekly break already designated for physical fitness with one specifically for sex would also provide "positive effects on well-being," stimulate the local birth rate, and boost morale, reports the New York Times. A sociology professor adds that it may also boost productivity.

While Muskos, 42, is only one council member in a town of 4,500, his idea doesn't seem too far-fetched, observes Quartz, considering that Swedes have already experimented with six-hour workdays, and enjoy multiple "fika" or coffee breaks per day in addition to 480 days of parental leave. But while some on Twitter say it's "time to move to Sweden," some are concerned about how the rule would be enforced and what it would mean for single employees. Övertorneå's 31-member council will vote on the proposal this spring. Muskos tells the Local he sees no reason why it would fail. (More Sweden stories.)