
Marriage rates are going down in China - randomname2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2017/10/17/no-one-in-china-wants-to-get-married-anymore-and-its-making-beijing-nervous/
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contingencies
Well I've been here for 17 years and I personally know a lot of people who
aren't considering marriage as they aren't considered marriageable as they
can't afford a house and don't want to work soul-draining hours for
substandard pay.

The two Chinas: affluent business owners, government beneficiaries, and a
small ultra-professional and investing class versus the average joe are really
far apart.

This means for young people the choices are stark: relax with your friends,
maybe make some money now and then or flutter between jobs you see as more of
a passing interest or do something small for cash (part time work, online
selling, art, piecework translation or media, etc.), taking the ire of your
parents who wished you would work harder, or face a truly depressing grind and
probably move alone to a polluted overpriced east coast megacity.

I don't think the choices are as bad in western countries, since although the
work ethic may be high the hours in China are long and unpaid overtime and
deference to managers is certainly expected for the upwardly mobile. Also in
the west you usually don't have to move for a decent income, with the social
isolation that entails.

There are also a small but increasing number of gay and lesbian couples.

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abusoufiyan
I'll never get the whole "wait until you can afford to be married" thing
because isn't one of the great advantages of marriage the joining of two
incomes and the lessening of personal expenses (sharing expenses means less
per person)?

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bovermyer
As long as you have the money to pay for the wedding, sure.

In my case, my fiancée and I are not doing a traditional wedding; we're just
registering in a courtroom, and then having a big party with a rented venue,
etc. It's still going to cost a few grand.

Marriage is not cheap.

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ggm
The graphs say 13m declined to 11.xm

so this is a 10% decline over 5 years. the rate of divorce increased more
rapidly in % terms. So, the problem may not be 'does not want to get married'
as much as 'does not want to get married under duress, to the wrong person,
for the wrong reasons'

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Arbalest
Not a lot to see here. Pretty much says women becoming more independent, birth
rates down, aging population. So same as most other places.

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horsecaptin
The reasons why women in China are becoming independent are quite different
from their counterparts in the West.

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Arbalest
Sure, but I don't think the article really communicates the nuances of this
very well. I imagine the article would be a lot longer if you hoped to
communicate the details to an audience outside of China

