"There is not much demand for marriage": the age of first marriage is delayed, and women are more pronounced

On October 27, 2019, a group wedding was held in the Zijingang campus of Zhejiang University. (Visual China/Photo)

"If you don't have the courage to start a family at the low tide of the industry, you may not even be able to pay off the mortgage." Zhang Yaya is 31 years old, and after his 30th birthday, his parents have been urging him to get married.

Zhang Yaya, a native of Zhoukou City, Henan Province, went to Hangzhou to work after graduating from university, and fell in love five years later, and the woman is Jinhua, Zhejiang. "I discussed with my girlfriend, we don't want to get married too early, we don't have a marriage plan for at least three years, the most we can do is get engaged first."

Zhang Yaya's reason is very good, he works in a foreign trade enterprise, the past three years affected by various factors, the industry environment is sluggish, entering 2023, the industry wind is good, "this time is a critical period for fighting for career, can not rush to get married for the sake of marriage."

In the past year, Zhang Yaya has been with her followers in Hangzhou six times, married to three college classmates, a colleague and two fellow friends, "all male, the oldest in 1989 and the youngest in 1993."

This means that the youngest of them is also 29 years old. On February 7, 2023, the Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau released the city's marriage registration data for 2022: the average age of first marriage for men was 28.8 years old and 27.5 years for women, which was delayed by 0.3 years and 0.4 years respectively compared with 2021.

Public data show that the delay in the age of first marriage has become a common phenomenon throughout the country, and the rate of postponement is increasing.

The positive effects of late marriage

The age of first marriage in Hangzhou has been postponed for four consecutive years. In 2019, the average age of first marriage for men and women in Hangzhou was 28.2 years old and 26.6 years old, 0.2 years and 0.3 years later than the previous year. In 2020, the average age of first marriage for men and women was 0.1 years and 0.2 years later than the previous year, respectively; In 2021, this set of numbers became 0.2 years old and 0.3 years old.

Zhuang Yuxia, an associate researcher at the Institute of Urban and Population Development of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, is concerned about the phenomenon of delaying the age of first marriage. She analyzed that the postponement of the age of first marriage is not only the inevitable result of the current economic and social development conditions, but also the inevitable result of the change in the concept of marriage between the sexes after the relative popularization of higher education.

Gao Liyan is a marriage and family counselor at Hangzhou Yixin Social Work Service Center. Nearly half of the premarital counseling she has experienced have the idea of not wanting to marry too early, and most of them are women aged 27 or 8.

"In Hangzhou, it's normal to delay the age of first marriage." Gao Liyan said that in the context of the continuous development of Hangzhou's economic level, most young people are more likely to pursue self-worth at work, "not so much want to attach to a marriage, and there is not much demand for marriage."

The delayed age of marriage has its positive effects.

Shanghai lawyer Fang Jie has long been concerned about marital relationships and marital disputes. Many women in their 30s are in the group who consult her for premarital counseling, "they have an independent economic foundation, and the independent awareness, experience and mentality of such women have a relatively positive impact on their future marriage and family."

In the marriage dispute cases represented by Fang Jie, many disputes were caused by the relatively young age at the time of marriage and insufficient ability to resolve the conflicts arising in the marriage.

"Many couples who are not in a hurry to get married have a better state and consultation results when they come to do premarital counseling." Gao Liyan said, "They have experienced a relatively long run-in, and when there are differences between the two parties, they can solve the problem rationally, which can better ensure the quality of the marriage." ”

Affects the age of first childbearing

The reason why the postponement of the age of first marriage has attracted attention, in the view of Yang Fan, researcher at the Population and Development Research Center of Chinese University and head of the Department of Demography, is that under the background of the negative growth of the population situation, the society pays more attention to fertility issues, "fertility and marriage are closely linked, and the postponement of the age of first marriage also means the postponement of the age of first childbearing."

Marriage registration data released by Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei and other provinces in the past five years shows that the postponement of the average age of first marriage has become a common phenomenon throughout the country, and the postponement is getting faster and faster.

"China Social Sciences News" once published an article that from 1990 to 2000, the average age of first marriage for men nationwide increased from 23.57 years to 25.11 years, an increase of 1.54 years, and women increased from 22.02 years to 23.17 years, an increase of 1.15 years; since 2010, the time taken for each additional year of first marriage has become shorter and shorter: "Liupu" data shows that in 2010, the average age of first marriage for men and women was 25.86 years and 23.89 years old, respectively. Qipu" data shows that this set of figures has risen to 28.43 years old and 26.30 years old, postponing 2.57 years old and 2.41 years old, respectively, and the speed of postponement is getting faster and faster.

In some regions, the age of first marriage has been delayed faster for women than for men in recent years.

In the marriage registration data released by the Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau from 2019 to 2022, the age of first marriage for women was continuously delayed by 0.9 years for 4 years, while the delay for men was 0.6 years for 4 years.

In Ningbo, from 2019 to 2022, the average age of first marriage was postponed from 28.4 years old for men and 26.5 years for women in 2019 to 28.8 years and 27.1 years for 27.1 years in 2022, respectively, and the age of first marriage for women was also delayed faster than for men.

"Women's education level has improved faster than men, and in the face of the heavy burden of childcare after marriage and unequal family division of labor, women bear most of the cost of marriage and childbearing", in response to this phenomenon, Yang Fan analyzed, "When women want to make the choice of marriage and childbearing, they may have to bear relatively high risks." ”

Zhuang Yuxia also said that although some provinces and cities have untied birth registration services from marriage, the mainstream birth model in the mainland is still marital birth, and marriage and childbirth are closely related, "the delay in the age of first marriage will cause a series of reactions, which will have an impact on the long-term balanced development of the mainland population."

"The high burden of marriage and childbearing and the conflict between women seeking their own development are becoming more and more obvious, which may also force women to further delay entering marriage." Zhuang Yuxia believes that this trend is also worthy of social attention.

Taking Zhang Yaya as an example, the reason why girlfriends do not want to get married early is simpler: after marriage, women spend a lot of time maintaining the relationship between family members, and if they want to maintain their pre-marriage life, "they will be told by their elders that they are married like children."

However, under the pressure of the families of both sides, the two got engaged during the 2022 National Day holiday and held an engagement banquet in each of their homes. In the past Spring Festival, in order to escape being urged to get married, the two "went to Jinhua in the Chinese New Year's Eve, went to Zhoukou on the second day of junior high school, and ran away on the third day of junior high school."

(At the request of the interviewee, Zhang Yaya is a pseudonym)

Southern Weekend Reporter Zhai Xingli Southern Weekend Intern Chen Yuelin