Demands for bride price, education and assets before marriage make it difficult for young people in rural China to find a partner.
A government survey in early 2024 of nearly 1,800 households in 119 villages in 26 provinces found that nearly 43% of local officials and more than 46% of households admitted to having difficulty finding wives for men over 30. The highest proportion of unmarried men were in Henan, Hubei, and Anhui provinces.
Professor Huang Zhenhua of the China Rural Research Institute, who led the research team, also found that the marriage crisis among single men has been increasing over the past 10 years, mainly among those over 30 years old.
Lu Dewen, a professor at the Wuhan School of Sociology who specializes in rural governance, conducted a similar survey in 2023. More than 65% of respondents said the number of single men in the village had exceeded 10% of the total population.
Data from China's National Bureau of Statistics shows that by the end of 2023, the country will have 30 million more men than women.
Increasing demands for dowry, property ownership, and gender imbalances have left many single men in rural China unable to find wives. Illustration photo: VCG
"It is the gender gap that makes it difficult for men to find a spouse. Especially those in underdeveloped areas face greater pressure due to migration," said Professor Lu.
Official statistics show that in 2022, nearly 172 million people moved to major cities to find work. Of these, 30% were women, and nearly 70% came from central or western China. This trend is expected to continue in 2023, when the number of migrants will exceed 176 million.
Experts warn that leaving home to start a business not only affects the local labor market but also the marriage market. It is the difference in factors that puts single men from underdeveloped areas at a disadvantage.
"Among men over 30 years old, a large number of them have been eliminated from the marriage market, and even cannot get married for life due to lack of accumulated assets and high dowry," the expert said.
The Chinese government has introduced a series of measures to boost the marriage rate but they have not been effective. Illustration photo: Zhao Ming/VCG
To improve the situation, from the government to local authorities and village and commune management units have implemented a series of policies to reduce challenges in the market. One of them is to abolish expensive wedding customs, promote healthy marriage culture, and reduce economic pressure on the groom's family.
In addition, many local governments have also introduced initiatives to promote marriage in China, such as creating platforms and events for meeting, matchmaking, providing child-rearing expenses, etc.
Although effective, Professor Lu said the above measures cannot help the 30 million surplus men find wives. According to experts, urbanization is the key to solving outstanding problems such as narrowing the gap between rural and urban areas, especially improving public services and quality of life.
"As the economy develops and urbanization advances, rural youth will find better living conditions in cities, opening up more opportunities for their future," Lu said.
Minh Phuong (According to Sixth Tone )
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