cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/1920159

Marriages in China plummeted by a fifth last year, the biggest drop on record, despite manifold efforts by authorities to encourage young couples to wed and have children to boost the country’s declining population.

Declining interest in getting married and starting a family has long been blamed on the high cost of childcare and education in China. On top of that, sputtering economic growth over the past few years has made it difficult for university graduates to find work and those that do have jobs feel insecure about their long-term prospects.

More than 6.1 million couples registered for marriage last year, down from 7.68 million a year earlier, figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.

“Unprecedented! Even in 2020, due to Covid-2019, marriages only decreased by 12.2%,” said Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He noted that the number of marriages in China last year was less than half of the 13.47 million in 2013.

If this trend continues, “the Chinese government’s political and economic ambitions will be ruined by its demographic Achilles’ heel,” he added.

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    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      4•2 days ago

      I’m not sure that an international comparison would be too useful when it comes to estimate future population growth or decline, because we see a trend in many countries that people don’t marry, although they raise children. That’s not necessarily the case in China, but supposedly in many European countries. For a population forecast I would guess the birth rate (fertility rate) is a more apt metric.

      Addition: Fertility rate appears to be lowest in China worldwide, EU and the U.S. are a bit higher. You can see these and other countries here (you can search for other countries using the search field at the top of the diagram in the link).

      • @[email protected]English
        2•2 days ago

        I just wanted to see if newer generations are dumping marriage altogether. I not married due to political instability for example. I want kids but I don’t want my partner tied to me if round ups happen.

            • @[email protected]OPEnglish
              2•1 day ago

              Yes, in general this is the trend. In China, however, we’ve seen this within an extremely short period of time. As I said earlier, you can’t compare different countries with that, especially if we make inferences to population growth and declines.

                • @CookieOfFortune
                  2•1 day ago

                  I feel to a certain degree the bridal industry did this to itself. It’s like 3-4x the cost when a good or service is for a wedding. They’re getting more expensive while the general population is not making more money. Maybe the really high end places can get away with it, but at some point people will just say it isn’t worth it.

  • @[email protected]
    3•2 days ago

    But even with the increase in births, the country’s population fell for a third consecutive year.

    The data also showed that more than 2.6 million couples filed for divorce last year, up 1.1% from 2023.