Cash reward offered for the family to produce town's first baby boy in 10 years
A mayor in southwest Poland is promising a cash reward to the family of the next boy to be born in his village, where only girls have arrived for almost a decade.
Authorities in the village of Miejsce Odrzanskie, which has around 300 residents, are not sure why no boys have been born there since 2010, but they are beginning to worry about filling farming jobs in the future.
The deficit of baby boys was realised during a recent competition for junior firefighters, when somebody noticed every one of the uniformed children was a girl.
County Mayor Rajmun Frischko, a father of two girls, told TVN24 Friday that he will have a nice surprise ready for those who next have a boy.
He added that an oak tree will also be planted and named after the boy.
“The situation was that the girls were growing up, and the kids were around us, so we didn’t pay much attention to it. Until, that is, someone noticed during a competition for volunteer firefighters that the team consisted of just girls,” the mayor told The Telegraph.
Community head, Krystyna Zydziak, confirmed 10 girls have been born since 2010.
“We treat the whole affair as something as a curiosity,” Ms Zydziak told the Telegraph.
Statistics show that more boys than girls are born in Poland. In 2017, 207,000 boys were born compared to 196,000 girls.
Scientists have warned against jumping to conclusions about the phenomenon, saying factors like family lineage could be a contributing factor, particularly if the girls’ parents are distant relations.
with AP
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