Faith in Chinese zodiac signs is still strong enough that it can and does affect birth rates throughout East Asia.
Because this year’s zodiac animal, the monkey, is such an auspicious sign, many women have specifically gotten pregnant in hopes of having intelligent and imaginative children.
Unfortunately, this has also led to crippling shortages of teaching staff in at least one Chinese middle school and presumably many other workplaces where women employees are heavily represented.
At the No. 9 Middle School in Shandong Province ... 76 female teachers—half of the total women on the staff—were expecting.
