We’ve blogged a couple of times about the quirky videos put out by the Danish Government in the last couple of years encouraging couples to have more children (or, as one says, to “Do it for Mum” – an odd aphrodisiac exhortation I would have thought…)

Now the Polish Government has got in on the act with a video from the Health Ministry featuring lots of rabbits (see below). The idea is the obvious one: Poles don’t have very many babies (about 1.3 per woman – one of the lowest fertility rates in the world); rabbits have lots of babies; therefore Poles should be more like rabbits. Apparently (my Polish is not up to much) the video tells viewers that the secret of their big families is exercise, a healthy diet and little stress. Thus, “If you ever want to be a parent, follow the example of rabbits.”

The purpose of the video, according to the Health Ministry is encourage Poles in the prime reproductive years of their life to adopt a healthy lifestyle that would help to improve their chances of conceiving children. It was also intended to raise public awareness of this pressing issue for Poland’s future in a way that did not offend anyone and was “not vulgar”. But can a non-vulgar video featuring rabbits really help to raise the Polish fertility rate? It’s one thing to have a healthy lifestyle so that when one wants to conceive, one has a greater chance of doing so. But in the end, Poles still need to want to conceive. Do they want to have more children?
 

Marcus Roberts was two years out of law school when he decided that practising law was no longer for him. He therefore went back to university and did his LLM while tutoring. He now teaches contract and...