GP Short Notes # 823, 19 March 2024
On 19 March, a BBC analysis titled, “China: Marriages rise for the first time in nine years,” looked into the rise of marriages in China. The Ministry of Civil Affairs informed that in 2023 there were 7.68 million newlyweds in China, this is a 12.4 per cent hike from 2022, 845,000 marriages. This hike comes in light of the Chinese government encouraging and promoting marriages to revive the birth rate in the country. Chinese demography has been seeing a steep decline as most of its population grows old and childbirth saw a slump, with increasingly the young opting out of the institution of marriage owing to economic and social woes. The flailing births were also caused by the aggressive “one-child” policy China imposed to control the population of the country. Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that they would provide a birth-friendly society to promote a long-term balanced population, by reducing the cost of childbirth, parenting and education.
A CNA editorial titled, “Marriage rates in China rise for first time in nine years” stated that the marriage rate is directly linked with birth and that an uptick in the marriage rate would be a positive sign, as more couples would yield more babies. This would help soften the decline in the demography. Additionally, more babies are also being born in China under the “China's 'dragon' baby boom may boost population in 2024: Report,” by CNA, reporting on Yicai data more babies are born in hospitals across China in the year of Dragon. The year of Dragon is believed to be an auspicious time in the Chinese Zodiac and therefore there is an uptick of newborns in the year 2024. A hospital in Wuxi saw an uptick of 20 per cent increase in the Chinese baby birth.
Another reason for the rise in marriages is the backlog of marriages held from the pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country and the world becoming completely stationary. While the pandemic ended the aftermath of the pandemic, civilians were faced with a dire economy. While the Chinese economy also got hit, but as the economy slowly recovered and consumer confidence increased. The backlogs of Chinese couples are marrying and planning their life.
The government has also been actively pushing for the same with Xi Jinping stating the necessity to create a “new family trend and: “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childrearing" to foster national development. Local governments have also announced various measures to encourage new families, including tax deductions and housing subsidies, as well as cash 'rewards' for marriages if the bride is aged 25 or younger.” Even private companies are furthering this vision with Julia's Events of Julia Meng, organizing a Shanghai singles event for singles above 35 years of age who have given up on marriage.