alt Hacker NewsNot sure if it's a pattern but when I interviewed with an EU company recently, they explicitly asked if I was married and if I had kids. They explained it as they had a "European mindset towards weekends and holidays" and they expected me to NOT be online.
I was fine with the mindset but never expected to get those questions in an interview, as it'd be illegal in the States.
It had to be made illegal to ask in the states, because so many employers used that information in an adversarial way.
In places that don't have such a history, there's no reason for it to be taboo.