Why are young people in China unwilling to get married?
More and more young Chinese are declining to tie the knot these days, opting instead to focus on their careers or even cohabit without ever going through the nuptials.
A survey conducted this summer by the Center for Population and Development Policy Studies in Shanghai found that nearly one in five men and one in eight women born between 1980-89 have never married.
Figures released recently by the Ministry of Civil Affairs reflect this, with marriage rates trending downward from a peak of 9.92 per 1,000 people in 2012, while the number of divorces per 1,000 doubled in the decade through to last year.
With a rapidly aging population, the thought of a younger generation unwilling or unable to walk along the traditional path of courtship toward marriage and procreation is obviously a cause for concern.
It could be a money issue. Weddings are expensive things, after all. I'm due to get married myself later this month so I know this fact all too well. Or maybe it’s a lack of time among a youth that is increasingly getting swept up in fast-paced, urbanized lifestyles.
Though I’d hazard a guess that no small part of the reason is that marriage in today's world can seem like something of an anachronism.
As a society, we attach special significance to it and, depending on your religious beliefs, it may hold much greater meaning for you than a simple piece of paper. But in the eyes of the law, that's all it is really - a contract between two people that can either be honored, or broken.
There was a time when, even if you reneged on the terms of that contract (or no longer wished to be bound by it) you would find it exceedingly difficult to release yourself from its constraints.
Fortunately, most of us no longer live in a world where the law, or social mores, keep us locked in unhappy marriages. But this gradual change in society has led to a consequent increase in divorce.
Which makes it easy to be cynical. And I get it, I really do. Marriage is a scary thing.
It’s a bet you make on another person. A risk you take despite the odds.
That leap of faith can be too great for some to want to attempt it. Certainly, for the longest time, I thought it would be for me.
But then I met the person who makes me truly happy, and who I do my darndest to make happy in return.
And all that apprehension, that fear and concern. It didn’t go away. It didn't just magically disappear. It just didn’t seem to matter so much anymore.
Because maybe that’s what love is - finding a person who makes your world a better place and gives you a reason to be.
The thought of committing your life to someone may terrify you, but it can also reveal a far greater truth about yourself than you might ever have otherwise known.