With their nation's birthrate declining big time, Germany's government has released a new parental benefit package, attempting to make it easier for middle-class, professional women to have kids.

If current trends continue, the country's population could drop from 82 million to 50 million by 2050.

So what gives? Don't German people have sex? Yes, of course they do, but Hitler's Nazi regime encouraged people to grow his so-called "master race" by having large families. So in post-war Germany, there was considerable backlash against this ideology, resulting in smaller families and fewer population studies.

Under the new plan, mothers or fathers are entitled to67% of their income, up to $2,363 a month, while staying home for a maximum of 14 months. Interestingly, the plan requires fathers to take off at least 2 months from work for a family to receive full benefits. Also, because the plan goes into effect on January 1, it's thought that some mothers are actually trying to hold off giving birth until midnight on December 31st.

Sure, you don't want to mess with the natural birth process, but for those kinds of benefits, I can understand why families would be trying to wait. To an American, being paid to stay home with your kid sounds like some kind of fairy tale.