'men marry, women marry', this traditional Chinese concept is quietly changing. More and more young people are suffering from marriage phobia and do not want to enter the siege of marriage. According to a recent research and survey, the marriage rate in many cities in China is declining year by year. What is the reason why young people are reluctant to marry now? Let's find out.
According to a group of data released by the Ministry of civil affairs, in the first quarter of 2018, the number of marriages nationwide was 3.017 million, down 5.7% year-on-year, among which the marriage rate in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Tianjin and other economically developed regions was generally low. If compared with a high of 4.822 million couples in the same period five years ago, the first quarter of 2018 has dropped by 29.54%. Experts believe that the decline in the number of marriageable people, the postponement of marriage age and the acceleration of urbanization are all the reasons for the continuous decline in the number of married people.
Marriage rate is decreasing year by year
The statistics of the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that there are obvious differences in this data in different regions.
The marriage rate is generally low in the economically developed areas such as beishangguang, among which the five provinces with the lowest marriage rate are Shanghai, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangxi and Shandong. The marriage rates are 0.45%, 0.61%, 0.61%, 0.62% and 0.63% respectively. In contrast, the five provinces with the highest marriage rate are Guizhou, Anhui, Tibet, Qinghai and Henan, with the marriage rate above 0.91%, and the per capita GDP in these regions is relatively low. The marriage rate and the level of economic development are in the opposite direction.
What do young people think of the low marriage rate?
Yu Xian, who is engaged in auditing work in Beijing, said that the pace of big cities is fast and the competition is fierce. "Overtime travel in the auditing industry is the norm. There is no time for dating or dating." how can we get married when we are in love? This reflects the dilemma faced by many young people who are fighting in cities. Even young people with stable relationships, many of them said they were afraid to "talk about marriage". Xu Shan, a white-collar worker in Shanghai, said: 'the cost of living keeps rising, and after marriage, we will inevitably consider the cost of childbearing and parenting'. It is not easy to change from an individual to a family.
The relatively high price of housing in the economically developed areas has also slowed down the pace of young people's marriage to a certain extent. Yu Xian said directly: 'without a house, my mother-in-law would definitely not like to live in a shared house, which also has many inconveniences. But high house prices like Beijing are hard to afford before the age of 35. '
In addition, many urban marriageable young people say that they would rather be short than overused, and do not worry about getting married. Lu Zifu, who works in Nanjing, has a house, a car and time, but he still says that "marriage is a lifetime thing, or to find a person who can communicate deeply, age is not the decisive factor.".
Lu Jiehua, Professor of Sociology Department of Peking University, said that with the development of economy and society, the concept of intergenerational marriage and childbearing has changed a lot. For many 'post-80s' and' post-90s', late marriage, non marriage and other phenomena are becoming more and more common, and social tolerance is also improving, and marriage is no longer the only choice. Some analysts believe that in the future, the marriage rate may continue to decline under the influence of changes in the number and structure of the population of marriageable age.
Urbanization is the driving force
Professor Zhai Zhenwu, Dean of the school of society and population of Renmin University of China, said that the decline in the number of marriageable people, the postponement of marriage age and the rapid development of urbanization were the main reasons for the continuous decline in the number of married people in China since 2013.
Looking at the birth rate -- the birth rate of China's population dropped from 21.06 & permil; in 1990 to 16.75 & permil; in 1997. After that, the birth rate continues to decline. Zhai Zhenwu further explained: 'since the 1990s, the number of births has been declining, which is the main reason why the number of married people is declining. This change is both expected and consistent with previous estimates. '
Look at the age of marriage - the delay in marriage has become another important reason for the current decline in marriage. According to the big marriage data released by Jiangsu Province, the average marriage age of Jiangsu people has increased by about one year every year in the past five years. According to data from Shanghai, the average age of marriage for women in Shanghai was 26.51 in 2010, reaching 28.14 in 2014. Wang Jie expected this change. She, who was studying in Beijing, said: 'all the students in the class are twenty-eight years old. Except for two students who return to school after work, everyone has no intention of getting married before graduation. '
According to Zhai Zhenwu, now nearly half of the adult population in China will receive higher education, and the number of students entering the master's and doctor's degree stage is also increasing year by year. The age of independence, work and family will also be delayed. In the early years, when young people reached the age of twenty-three or four, many got married. Now with the popularization of higher education, the number of years for young people to receive education has increased. Maybe they are 23 years old after graduation. The age of marriage will inevitably be pushed back. A considerable number of people of marriageable age are not married, which also makes the number of marriage low.
Analysts say the advancement of urbanization and the growing economy have also affected the Marriage Choices of young people to some extent. The influx of a large number of people into the city not only drives the economic development, but also pushes up the cost of living and intensifies the market competition. The rising level of economic development and the falling rate of marriage are a global trend.
Encourage marriage and childbearing
In the face of the declining number of marriages year by year, many experts said that this is an inevitable outcome of the country's economic and social development. The society should respect more diversified and personalized personal choices and give more choices to young people.
Shi Zhilei, director of population and health research center of Zhongnan University of finance, politics and law, thinks that the better the regional economic conditions are, the more tolerant the choice of single and personal life style is. 'the higher the development level is, the more diversified the society is. No marriage, single or divorce is a personal choice. '
According to Lu Jiehua, the 'post-80s' and' post-90s' are significantly different from the 'post-60s' and' Post-70s'. "Economic development has brought income growth, the Internet has improved the level of information technology, and more young people have seen the changes of the outside society and understood the development of the world. For them, getting married and having children is no longer a necessary life experience, but a result of personal choice. 'he believes that with the change of social development, people should change their thinking, keep pace with the times, and give more tolerance to postpone marriage, de facto marriage and non marriage.
However, compared with five years ago, the number of marriages decreased by 1.265 million, a change that still deserves the attention of the government. Lu said that in China, marriage and childbearing are closely related. Unmarried childbearing and de facto marriage, which are common in western countries, have not yet been recognized in China. Therefore, the lower marriage rate will affect the fertility rate and birth rate, and then affect the population size and structure, and finally affect the future economic development of the country.
China has entered an aging society. According to the data of the sixth census in 2011, the population aged 60 and over accounts for 13.26% of the total population, which is 2.93 percentage points higher than the fifth census in 2000, highlighting the current situation of aging acceleration in China. The decline of marriage rate and birth rate is bound to further deepen the problem of aging society.
Experts suggest that, in view of the close relationship between the two, the state should pay attention to this issue, seriously study and issue corresponding policies to encourage young people to get married and have children. For example, marriage leave and maternity leave can be extended appropriately, and people can be advocated to balance family and work, so as to promote marriage and childbirth. In addition, the government should also introduce family friendly public policies, such as the fiscal policy of paying taxes by family as a unit, to reduce the tax burden of families; a large number of outstanding young people are gathered in the first tier cities, but the high price of housing makes it difficult for many people to start independent family life when they are young, so measures such as stabilizing the price of housing and providing low-cost housing for large families will alleviate some of the pressure.