Low Marriage Rate Sparks Worries Over Declining Population in China

GLOBAL TIMES – Mar 28 – Newly released figures showing China's marriage rate at 7.2 per thousand in 2018 (down from 9.9), the lowest since 2013, have sparked public discussion over the reasons why more Chinese are staying single as well as worries on how to deal with the declining population. Shanghai had the lowest marriage rate – 4.4 per thousand in 2018. The China Statistical Yearbook 2018 shows that there were ~240M single people in China. According to an online poll launched by the People's Daily, "not meeting the right people" was listed as the top reason why young people are staying single, with 29.5% of the 33K respondents choosing this reason. Other reasons include "being unable to share the family burden" (23.4%), "enjoying single life" (16.5%), "living an unstable life" (12.3%), "too much work pressure" (8.8%) and "pursuing academic development." An online survey conducted among 140M members of Zhenai.com, China's largest matchmaking site, concluded that the high cost of living represents the greatest source of financial pressure for single people, followed by difficulties in buying a home.