An Indonesian government official has called on the rich to marry the poor.
Muhadjir Effendy, Minister of Coordinating Human Development and Culture, proposed the idea to lower the country's rate of poverty during a speech this week, The Jakarta Post reports.
"What happened if poor people are looking for other poor people [for marriage]? There will be more poor households. This is a problem in Indonesia," Effendy said on Wednesday.
He said if a groom of a poor family marries a bride of another poor family, they would create a new poor family.
He went on to say 9.4 percent of Indonesia's 57.1 million households are "poor", and parents usually feel ashamed if their child marries into a poor family and the "mindset needs to change".
"They should instead be proud because it is noble as it eradicates poverty... The goal is that after marriage, the couples will form economically stable households."
He blamed Indonesia's growing poverty for the an increase in related illnesses.
