Number of Chinese Marriage Registrations Hits 37-Year Low Due to Changing Attitudes and Real-Life Pressures

12.06.2023

Following the decline in the total population and the decline in the birth rate, the number of marriage registrations in China has gradually decreased. The number of registered marriages last year was 6.833 million, a drop of 49.3% in nine years compared with the peak in 2013. Population experts pointed out that the pressure of reality and the change of ideas have caused Chinese young people to “neither marry nor have children”.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) According to Chinese media Yicai Global, the number of marriage registrations in China hit a 37-year low last year, with 6.833 million marriage registrations within one year. Compared with the previous year, the number has decreased by 803,000 pairs, and compared with the peak in 2013, it has decreased by 49.3% in nine years.

The analysis pointed out that although the decrease in the number of marriage registrations in China last year may be partly due to the impact of the epidemic prevention policy, judging from the trend, the number of marriages has been gradually decreasing in the past 10 years.causeThe number of marriages is falling rapidlyOther reasons for this include delaying the age of marriage and childbearing, a decrease in the number of people eligible for marriage, and changes in ideas.

According to the “China Census Yearbook-2020”, the average age of first marriage of Chinese people in 2020 is 28.67 years old, an increase of 3.78 years from the average age of first marriage in 2010 (24.89 years old).

The Chinese government is facinglower birth rate，population declineAt the same time, there is now a need to deal with the decline in the number of marriages.

Dong Yuzheng, an expert on China’s population issues, pointed out in an interview with China Business News: “Nowadays, many people don’t want to get married. Longing; young people’s views on marriage have changed, and many people no longer regard marriage and childbirth as a compulsory course in life; moreover, the rising cost of marriage in real life will also affect young people’s choice of marriage.”

more content:Interview with Yi Fuxian: The population crisis will make China and Europe and the United States decline

In 2022, the number of new births in China will be 9.56 million, and the number of deaths will reach 10.41 million. This is the first time since the early 1960s that the number of deaths in China exceeded the number of births. The number of births in China in 2022 will also be lower than the 10.6 million in 2021, the sixth consecutive year of decline.Some experts believe that the decline in this figure, coupled with the long-term rise in life expectancy, is pushing China into a crisis.population crisiswhich will have implications for China, its economy, and the world in this century.

China’s birth rate in 2022 will be 6.77‰, lower than the 7.52‰ in 2021, a record low.

Demographers have warned that as the country’s labor force shrinks and debt-ridden local governments need to increase fiscal spending for an elderly population, China will become rich before it becomes rich.aging society。

To encourage people to form marriages and families and boost the sluggish birth rate, the Chinese government said last month that it would launch pilot projects in more than 20 cities and expand the “trans-provincial” pilot program of marriage registration for mainland residents to create a culture of marriage and childbirth. “New Era”.

Some provinces also offer extended paid marriage leave to young newlyweds to encourage young people to get married.

(First Finance and Economics, Reuters)

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