Latvia is renowned for its stunning women but lonely beauties have resorted to hiring husbands for an hour in a bizarre modern solution for smart, single ladies that can’t find a fella
Desperate Latvian women are hiring “husbands for an hour” due to a chronic shortage of men in the country.
Baltic beauties are better educated, healthier and live longer than males in the country. And many are fleeing the country to find fellas, it is claimed.
But those left behind are turning to services that let women hire men for household chores and repairs. Companies advertise “men with golden hands” who can be called out for a few euros to fix leaking taps, mount a TV, or even assemble flat-pack furniture.
The service lets women book a “husband for an hour” online or by phone, with the man showing up within 60 minutes.
Writer Dace Ruksane, dubbed Latvia’s version of Carrie Bradshaw, said highly educated and successful women are often left single because they struggle to find partners who match their ambitions.
She said: “The smartest girls are alone. The really beautiful girls are alone if they are smart. They want to find partners who are equal to them.
“But a man, having all this choice, doesn’t need to be very perfect. He just sits in front of the TV and knows he can get a woman. And if she doesn’t suit him, he will get another.”
Men outnumber women under 30. But sociologist Baiba Bela said gender imbalance becomes sharply visible between the ages of 30 and 40. She said: “In this age group the mortality for men is three times higher than the same age group for women.”
The overall life expectancy gap is the widest in the European Union, with Latvian women living 11 years longer on average. And figures show Latvia has 15.5% more women than men, more than three times the EU average.
Single festival worker Dania, 29, said 98 per cent of her colleagues are women. She said: “There’s nothing wrong with that… but just for the good balance you would want to have some more men to flirt or chat with. It’s just more interesting.”
Her friend Zane agrees, adding: “That’s why all my friends have gone abroad and found boyfriends there.”
High male mortality is said to be behind the shortage, with men dying younger and four times more likely to commit suicide. The country’s average age is 44, its crude death rate 14.9 per 1,000, and more than 80 per cent of suicides are men.
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