(TibetanReview.net, Aug25’24) – China had found it easier to punish its citizens in the past for violating its decades-long one-child policy than to motivate them now to have more children. With incentive policies having failed, its civil affairs ministry has now released a draft amendment to the Regulation on Marriage Registration this month, with the aim to make it easier for citizens to get married and harder to get divorced.
Calling it an important change to “build happy and harmonious families”, the ministry has opened the draft amendment for public feedback until Sep 11.
For decades, families were ruined by impositions of steep fines and loss of jobs and opportunities for violating the country’s draconian one-child norm. But now, with its population shrinking and rapidly ageing, the country is facing a demographic crisis. Policymakers have been struggling to encourage young people to get married and have children.
According to official data, some 3.43 million people registered for marriage in the first six months of 2024 – down 12% from a year ago and the lowest number in a decade, noted the scmp.com Aug 25.
The birth rate meanwhile plunged to a record low of 9.02 million births in 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics was cited as saying.
Under the revised regulation, couples can get married using just their ID cards anywhere in the country. Previously, they also needed their official household registration, or hukou, and could only marry in the places where they were registered.
The revision also includes a 30-day cooling-off period for a divorce, when either party may withdraw their application. This only applies to divorce applications made at registry offices, not divorce by lawsuit.
But it remains doubtful whether the new legislation would make any significant difference. Faced with high living costs, a challenging job market and increasing work pressure, many young people are choosing not to marry and start families. In addition, more women are becoming well-educated and financially independent, which has led to more individual freedom and choices, the report noted.
The government has been trying to drive up the birth rate with incentives that included cheaper housing, tax cuts and even cash payments. President Xi Jinping has called for women to return to more traditional roles, urging officials to “foster a new type of marriage and childbearing culture”.
But many young people are drawn to the narrative that marriage is a trap and has no benefits, the report noted.
For some young people, the trend away from marriage is liberating. Tiffany Chen, an unmarried film producer in Beijing, said it showed that young people saw marriage as an outdated institution, the report said.
“When young people are no longer getting married, it means that they believe love, intimacy, sex and companionship – crucial concepts to humankind – are no longer linked to a marriage,” she has said.