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China’s Marriage Crisis Deepens Amid Economic and Social Pressures
Fewer people in China are getting married than before.
This is happening while the country’s birth rate is also very low.
Many young people say that owning a home is important before marriage, but homes and rent can be expensive.
In some rural areas, a bride price can cost as much as $50,000.
There are also about 30 million more men than women, partly because families once preferred sons.
Matchmakers are using livestreams and other modern tools to help people find partners.
Women who remain unmarried are often criticized, while men may not face the same pressure.
Some women now feel they can build happy and secure lives without getting married.
China recorded around six million marriages in 2024, less than half the number reported a decade earlier.
A long-standing preference for sons has contributed to a gender gap of roughly 30 million more men than women.
Housing costs, low wages and bride prices as high as $50,000 are making marriage difficult for many couples.
Matchmakers are reviving traditional practices, including livestreamed matchmaking and arrangements involving men moving in with their in-laws.
More Chinese women are choosing independent lives, while unmarried women continue to face stronger social pressure than unmarried men.
- Who
- Young Chinese people, families, matchmakers and women choosing whether to marry are central to the documentary.
- What
- Marriage rates in China are declining amid economic pressures, a gender imbalance and changing attitudes toward marriage.
- Where
- The issue is examined across China, including Henan province, Shanghai and rural areas.
- When
- The documentary discusses trends through 2024, including data from 2023 and 2020.
- Why
- Fewer people are marrying because of housing costs, bride prices, gender imbalance, family expectations and changing views about independence.
Traditional Marriage Expectations
Independent Choices
Marriage and family responsibility
Traditional Marriage Expectations
Authorities and families see marriage as important for having children and maintaining a support system for older people.
Independent Choices
Some unmarried women say marriage is no longer necessary for security or fulfilment and that they can build satisfying lives independently.
Economic requirements
Traditional Marriage Expectations
Many people believe owning a home before marriage provides stability, and families may expect bride prices or financial contributions.
Independent Choices
High housing costs, rent and bride prices can exclude poorer men and make conventional marriage inaccessible.
Matchmaking arrangements
Traditional Marriage Expectations
Matchmakers are adapting older customs through livestreams, agencies and arrangements that connect people who might otherwise struggle to marry.
Independent Choices
Some arrangements challenge traditional expectations, including cases where men move in with their wives’ families in exchange for marriage.
Key facts
- Marriages in 2024
- Around six million, less than half the figure from a decade earlier.
- Gender imbalance
- China has roughly 30 million more men than women.
- Homeownership expectation
- More than 80 percent of people surveyed believe couples should own a home before marrying.
- Rural bride prices
- Payments to a woman’s family have reached as high as $50,000.
- Unmarried women
- Nearly half of Chinese women in their late 20s were unmarried in 2023, almost five times the rate two decades earlier.
- Women’s purchasing power
- Chinese women’s purchasing power exceeded $1.5 trillion by 2020.
- Elder care
- About 90 percent of elderly Chinese people are cared for by their children.
Quotes
Unnamed woman interviewed by Al Jazeera
A woman featured in the documentary discussing independence outside marriage
“Everything that is required for enjoyment, she can accomplish all of it alone”
theprint.in
Sources
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