Not long ago, after returning to the village at the age of 22 in Henan, Ms. Zhu was arranged by her family for 20 blind dates in one day. The Spring Festival is approaching, and for many unmarried young people working outside, it is inevitable to face the "urging" of parents and friends and arrange blind dates when they return home.
In the face of various "urges" from relatives and friends during the festival, does the unmarried group hate to marry/marry? What do they ask of the other half? How do you view marriage? The Social Survey and Public Opinion Research Group of the Nandu PollIng Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Research Group") launched a series of surveys on young people's views on marriage and love and marriage customs in November last year, and on the eve of the peak period of "marriage urging" in the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, it re-analyzed the marriage hypnosis situation, marriage and love concept and marriage customs faced by unmarried respondents, and released the "Investigation Report on the Marriage and Love Concept and Marriage Customs of Unmarried Young People".
The report shows that more than 40% of unmarried respondents believe that single freedom is unconstrained, nearly half of single respondents are eager to get off the list, and frequent marriage urging by parents and friends is an important source of "single pressure". 10% of single respondents plan to go on a blind date this year's Spring Festival; nearly half of the unmarried groups surveyed recognize that blind dates have "clear purposes and can effectively develop relationships", and more than 30% of respondents believe that blind dates are a helpless choice under pressure. In terms of the concept of marriage and love, the unmarried respondents pay more attention to the quality of personality, height and appearance and the three views; the ideal marriage age of 65% of the unmarried respondents is 26-29 years old. Speaking of their attitudes toward marriage, nearly 60% of unmarried respondents said that they "do not force it with fate"; 25% of unmarried respondents said they wanted to get married as soon as possible; and nearly 10% of unmarried respondents expressed fear of marriage. In terms of weddings, 70% of unmarried respondents believe that a wedding should be held, and a higher proportion of men think that a wedding is indispensable. Overall, 75% of unmarried respondents are satisfied with their current lives, and those in relationships are 20% more satisfied than single.
10% of single respondents plan to go on a blind date this Year's Spring Festival, and more than 30% believe that blind dates are forced by helplessness
According to the survey conducted by the research group after the Spring Festival in 2021, 60% of the respondents encountered marriage urging during the Spring Festival, while the public Spring Festival Arrangement Willingness Survey in early 2022 showed that 10.34% of single respondents planned to go on a blind date during the Spring Festival.
Interaction analysis shows that the older the single respondents arrange blind dates during the Spring Festival, the higher the proportion, the proportion of post-70s and post-80s single respondents planning to go on blind dates during the Spring Festival is more than 20%, while the proportion of post-90s single respondents is 12.45%, and the proportion of post-00s is only 5.70%.
Speaking of their views on blind dates, 48.23% of the respondents believe that "the two sides have a clear purpose and can effectively develop a relationship"; 37.75% think that "they can contact more excellent opposite sexes" and "it is more reassuring to be introduced by relatives and friends"; 35.23% think that it is "the most effective speed dating method in modern society". There are also 32.7% of the respondents who believe that blind dates are "helpless choices under pressure"; 18.56% think that "the purpose is too strong to accept"; 6% said they were very disgusted.
The interaction analysis found that the proportion of female respondents who expressed less acceptance and dislike for blind dates was higher than that of men, and the proportion of women who thought that "purposefulness was too strong and not very acceptable" was 10% higher than that of men.
More than half of single respondents have single pressure, and the urging of relatives and friends to marry is an important reason
Are single respondents stressed about being urged to marry during the festive season? Survey data show that 54.71% of single respondents said that there was single pressure, of which 22.53% said that there was a lot of pressure, and 32.18% said that there was some pressure. From different ages, single respondents over the age of 30 said that they had a higher proportion of single stress, of which 40% had a lot of stress.
From the perspective of different genders, the proportion of male single respondents who said that they had single pressure reached 63.99%, which was 20.27% higher than that of female single respondents. From the perspective of different ages, the pressure of singlehood before the age of 35 increases with age, and the unmarried respondents aged 30-34 are the most stressed, indicating that the pressure is very high, reaching 40.58%; then with the increase of age, the single pressure decreases, and after the age of 40, the proportion drops to 27.27%. From the perspective of different cities, compared with large cities, the proportion of unmarried respondents living in county or county-level cities facing single pressure is higher, indicating that 36.84% of respondents have great pressure, while the proportion of respondents living in the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen is 16.50%.
When asked about the specific sources of single pressure, "people of the same age around them have objects, only their own singles" accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 60.00%, followed by "parents and friends frequently 'urging marriage'", accounting for 55.00%, becoming the second largest source of single pressure. In addition, "worrying about missing the best age for marriage and childbearing" and "being alone in every festival" accounted for more than 40%. From the perspective of different genders, the proportion of unmarried female respondents who said that their parents and friends frequently "urged marriage" reached 60.69%, which was nearly 10% higher than that of men.
Nearly 60% of unmarried respondents "do not demand marriage according to fate", and the proportion of men who want to marry early is higher
Although many respondents face frequent "marriage urging" by their parents and friends, when asked about their attitude towards marriage, 58.95% of unmarried respondents still said that they "follow the fate and do not force it". The proportion of people who want to get married early is 26.26%, and the proportion of people who say "fear marriage" is 14.69%. From the perspective of different genders, the proportion of unmarried male respondents who said they wanted to marry early was 36.00%, 19.81% higher than that of women; while the proportion of unmarried female respondents who said they were "afraid of marriage" was 20.65%, which was 11.85% higher than that of men.
Speaking of the meaning of marriage, both men and women also recognize that "marriage is the sublimation and guarantee of love, and feelings are very important", accounting for more than 45%. Unmarried male respondents believe that "marriage is a choice after weighing the pros and cons, suitable is more important than like", "marriage is an important step in life", "marriage is mainly to reproduce and breed offspring" The proportion is higher, all more than 10% higher than women. The proportion of unmarried female respondents who believe that "marriage is not necessary, and people who do not have the right place are not forced" is higher, 24.85% higher than that of men.
On the other hand, when asked about their views on the single group, 46.72% of unmarried respondents chose "free and unfettered, feel good", 39.77% thought that "it doesn't matter, purely personal choice", and only 10% of the respondents thought that single "life lacks companionship, relatively lonely". Interestingly, compared with the single group, respondents in love are more eager to be single, and the proportion of respondents who think that "freedom is unconstrained, feel good" is 50.85%.
Unmarried respondents pay more attention to character quality and height and appearance, and the ideal marriage age is 26-29 years old
What do unmarried young people have for their ideal spouse? In the survey, 67.55% of the unmarried respondents believed that the quality of personality was the most important, followed by height and appearance that matched the three views, accounting for 55.43% and 53.03% respectively. In addition, the proportion of personality charm, health status and economic conditions is more than 40%. Did the interviewee in love find the one he wanted? 86.44% of people said that the other half met their expectations.
When it comes to the ideal age to marry, 65% of unmarried respondents chose 26-29 years old, of which 35.61% chose 28-29 years old and 31.57% chose 26-27 years old. In contrast, the ideal age of marriage for men is earlier than that for women, and the proportion of unmarried male respondents who hope to marry before the age of 25 is 11.66% higher than that of women, and the proportion of women who choose 26-27 years old is 14.23% higher than that of women; while the proportion of unmarried female respondents who want to marry after the age of 28 or have nothing to do is significantly higher than that of men.
In addition, there are obvious differences in the ideal age of marriage among respondents in different cities, with only 7.42% of unmarried respondents living in the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen having an ideal marriage age before the age of 25, while the proportion of unmarried respondents in small towns is 21.88%, and 40% of unmarried respondents living in rural areas hope to marry before the age of 25.
70% of unmarried respondents believe that a wedding should be held, and more than 40% recognize that the money is "courtesy exchange"
Spring Festival is the peak period of weddings, in the traditional wedding customs, wedding is an important part of marriage, with the development of the times, young people's attitude towards weddings has changed? According to the survey, 70.20% of unmarried respondents believe that weddings should be held, of which 35.48% think that weddings are indispensable and 34.72% think that they should be held as much as possible. Another 22.10% said they didn't care about the wedding, and 7.70% said they would try not to hold or resist holding the wedding.
Interaction analysis showed that the younger the unmarried respondents, the higher the proportion of unmarried respondents who thought the wedding was essential, with more than 37% of unmarried respondents under the age of 30, 10% higher than those over the age of 30. From different genders, the proportion of male unmarried respondents who believe that a wedding should be held is higher, reaching 78.52%, while the proportion of women is 61.50%. From the perspective of different academic qualifications, the higher the academic qualifications, the lower the proportion of unmarried respondents who think that the wedding is indispensable, the proportion of unmarried respondents with junior high school and below who think that the wedding is indispensable is more than 50%, and the proportion of respondents with a master's degree or above is only 26.83%.
When attending a wedding, it is inevitable to discuss the money for the wedding banquet. In the survey, more than 90% of unmarried respondents said that they need to accompany the money to attend the wedding, 55.18% of the respondents said that the part of the money will not be returned, 37.12% of the respondents said that the part of the money will be returned after the wedding, and a few respondents said that they do not need to return the money with the part. For the money for the wedding banquet, 47.73% of the unmarried respondents held a neutral position, believing that "dispensable and important", 43.94% agreed, believing that "etiquette and exchange, reflecting friendship", only 7.95% of people held an opposing attitude, believing that "increasing the burden and forming a comparison".
75% of unmarried respondents believe that the bride price should be "done according to ability" and "adapted to local conditions", and half of them are disgusted with marriage troubles
In view of the unhealthy trends in holding weddings, such as large-scale operations, comparison of people's feelings, sky-high dowries, and vicious marriages, the mainland has successively introduced a number of policies and measures to promote the reform of marriage customs in recent years. In the survey, 86.11% of unmarried respondents supported the reform of marriage customs, but only 3.03% did not support it; 75.07% of the unmarried respondents clearly stated that they would consider simply hosting a wedding.
When asked about their attitude towards the bride price, respondents generally believe that the bride price should not be too high, 51.64% believe that it should be "done according to one's ability, the intention is more important than the amount", 25.13% believe that "according to local conditions, depending on the situation", 8.59% think that "it is dispensable, it is good to arrive", only 7.83% of the respondents believe that the bride price "the more the better, and some respondents oppose the bride price or it does not matter."
When it comes to the views on the phenomenon of marriage, more than 50% of unmarried respondents expressed great disgust, believing that weddings should witness happiness and should not become farces; there are also 25.27% of unmarried respondents who oppose vulgar marriages and can accept harmless little jokes; the remaining 24.20% of unmarried respondents agree to go with the flow, try to have fun, no big deal. The interaction found that although the proportion of people who dislike marriage troubles is higher overall, the higher the education level, the greater the proportion of people who oppose marriage troubles, the proportion of respondents with college degree or above who dislike marriage troubles is more than 50%, the proportion of respondents with junior high school and below degree who dislike marriage troubles is 38.89%, and the proportion of respondents with master's degree or above who dislike marriage troubles is 60.87%. In addition, unmarried female respondents were more resentful of marriage than men.
More than 30% of unmarried respondents can accept naked marriage, and more than half approve of two-headed marriage
From the survey results, it can be seen that with the development of the times, the concept of marriage and love among unmarried young people has undergone new changes. Although faced with the pressure of parents and friends urging marriage, they still enjoy the freedom of being single without restraint, treat marriage more "casually", and weddings are no longer necessary. At the same time, some new models of marriage are gradually entering the public eye.
In the survey, for the form of "naked marriage" without wedding, no house, and no bride price, 34.97% of unmarried respondents said that they could accept naked marriage (no house, no car, no diamond ring, no wedding, no honeymoon, direct registration of marriage); 27.53% said that semi-naked marriage (only no wedding) was accepted, and others did what they could; 26.52% said they did not accept naked marriage, believing that no material love lacked security; the rest of the respondents said that it varied depending on the object.
As the only child enters the marriage age, in recent years, a new form of marriage has quietly emerged in Jiangsu and Zhejiang - two-headed marriage. Neither a man marries a woman, nor does it belong to the recruitment of men into the excess, the small couple is equal to each other, the parents of both sides go at both ends, and usually give birth to two children, respectively with the parents' surnames. In the survey, more than 60% of unmarried respondents said they knew about two-headed marriages, and 35% of them said that there were also such examples around them. When it comes to the view of two-headed marriage, more than half of the unmarried respondents agree, 55.11% of the respondents believe that it reflects the mutual respect and equal status of men and women, and 49.78% of the respondents believe that it is conducive to solving the pension problem brought about by the combination of only children. There are also 32.59% of the respondents who have a neutral attitude towards two-headed marriages, worried about not being recognized by the mainstream consciousness of society; in addition, half of the respondents feel that two-headed marriages dilute the concept of family, which is not conducive to the long-term marriage of marriage, and does not conform to the conventional rules for marrying men and women.
Survey Overview:
The Nandu Poll Center conducted this survey from November 1 to 7, 2021, and collected a total of 1,017 valid questionnaires through online push and field visits, of which 792 were for unmarried groups. Among the unmarried respondents, 59.47% were unmarried single, 3.28% were divorced single, and 37.25% were in love. Among them, male respondents accounted for 51.145%, women accounted for 48.86%; from the age point of view, 96.97% of the respondents were concentrated in 18-34 years old, of which 18-24 years old accounted for nearly half of the respondents; from the perspective of academic status, 76.64% of the respondents' academic qualifications were concentrated in college and undergraduate, of which 18.69% were respondents with college degrees, 57.95% were respondents with undergraduate degrees; from the perspective of monthly income, 30.18% of respondents with monthly incomes of less than 5,000 yuan were accounted for 30.18%. Respondents with a monthly income of 5001-10,000 yuan accounted for 35.98%, and 25.76% of the respondents with a monthly income of 10,001-20,000 yuan, in addition, 8.06% of the respondents had a monthly income of more than 20,000 yuan. From the perspective of place of residence, 47.22% of the respondents live in the north, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Research topics in social surveys and public opinion
Social Group and Public Psychology Studies
Project Producer: Nandu Poll Center
Project Producer: Xie Bin Zhang Chun
Project Host: Wen Yiran
Project Execution: Nandu Researcher Wen Yiran Mai Jieying Intern Peng Jingru
Support platform: Southern Metropolis Daily official WeChat public account