Marriages in China last year plunged by one-fifth to the lowest level on record, a setback to efforts by the government to reverse a demographic crisis threatening the world’s second-largest economy.
The number of marriage registrations fell to 6.1 million, according to statistics released by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs on Saturday, after a post-COVID-19 pandemic increase to nearly 7.7 million in 2023.
The tally for last year marks the fewest marriages since public records began in 1986 and is less than half the peak reached in 2013.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The failure to encourage more people to tie the knot in the nation of 1.4 billion people represents a challenge for a government struggling to arrest China’s sharp drop in births. A marriage certificate is typically required to register new babies, though some localities have moved to scrap the requirement so single parents or unmarried couples can enjoy the same rights as married ones.
“Marriage has been falling out of favor, particularly with younger people, due to high costs, the sluggish economy and evolving attitudes toward traditional marriages,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ada Li said in a report.
Registrations might also have suffered last year because it was an inauspicious year for marriage — known as a “Widow Year.”
About 2.6 million people also filed for divorce, up 1.1 percent from 2023, the data showed.
China’s population shrank for the third straight year last year, even though births rose slightly. Some of the improvement was attributed to the belief that the Year of the Dragon was lucky for having children.
The number of marriages has been in a near-constant state of decline over the past decade, with the annual figure dropping below 10 million in 2019.
In a speech in October last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) called for giving stronger guidance to young people in shaping their attitude toward marriage, childbearing and family.
China in August last year proposed a draft law that would make it easier to register marriages and tougher to file for divorce, provoking a public backlash, with people questioning the intention of the authorities.
The topic of China’s steep drop in marriage registrations last year was trending China’s Sina Weibo yesterday, where some of the comments pointed to the financial strains involved in getting married.
In the words of one user, “life is already so tiring. Who has the courage to get married?”
Another comment read: “Getting married is a big expense. I suddenly felt this year that it’s pretty good being single, I don’t have such big pressure and can spend the money I earned myself.”
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
RSS