Latvia's man shortage has sparked a strange new industry: The hourly husband
https://www.tbsnews.net/offbeat/latvias-man-shortage-has-sparked-strange-new-industry-hourly-husband-1303376
Statistically, the country has a full-blown "man drought," with 15.5% more women than men, a gap more than three times the average across the European Union. Among seniors, the divide becomes even more dramatic: women over 65 outnumber men two to one, says the New York Post.
Researchers say there's no mystery behind the imbalance. Latvian men simply don't live as long. They smoke far more frequently than women-31% of them smoke, compared to just 10% of women-and carry higher rates of overweight and obesity.
Poor diet, inconsistent healthcare habits, and leftover post-Soviet lifestyle patterns have caused men to die younger for decades. In a small country, this adds up quickly. Fewer men reach middle age, and even fewer make it into retirement. The imbalance has quietly reshaped the population.
But while demographers debate the health crisis, Latvian women have adopted a far more immediate solution: if the country doesn't have enough men, they'll hire one.
Across Latvia, services offering "husbands for an hour" have exploded in popularity. Companies like Komanda24 promise to send over "Men With Golden Hands"-a delightful piece of branding for workers who show up to fix leaky pipes, mount televisions, repair cabinets, or bring any misbehaving household appliance back in line.
Another service, Remontdarbi.lv, takes the concept even further by branding its handymen explicitly as rented husbands. Customers book online or by phone, and within a short time, a man appears at the door-not to flirt, not to argue about weekend plans, but simply to paint the walls or fix the curtains.
The concept turns the traditional "handy husband" trope into a straightforward commercial transaction. No relationship required, no awkward dates involved, and no need to pretend anyone is assembling an IKEA bookshelf for love. In a country where women jokingly describe a "nationwide husband vacuum," the service has become a practical fix for the demographic gap.