The age of first marriage has been delayed in many places, experts: normal phenomena mean that marriage is no longer a "must-have" in life

A few days ago, Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei, Zhejiang Hangzhou, Guangxi Guilin and other provinces and cities announced big data on marriage registration in 2022. The Beijing News reporter combed and found that the average age of first marriage in these provinces and cities is between 27 and 32 years old, which is later than in 2021, and the number of marriages in many places is decreasing compared with 2021, and the number of marriages in the mainland has continued to decrease in recent years.

In this regard, marriage and family law experts believe that this is a normal phenomenon, and the delay in the age of first marriage means that marriage is no longer a "must-have" for all people, but it may also directly lead to a decrease in fertility.

The number of marriage registrations in many provinces and cities has decreased, and the number of marriage registrations in the mainland has continued to decrease in recent years

According to the marriage registration data of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, in 2022, the civil affairs department of Jiangsu Province handled 412286 pairs of marriage registrations, a decrease of 11.7% compared with the total number of marriage registrations in 2021, and showed a downward trend year by year in the past five years. Hubei registered a total of 284279 couples in 2022, down 10% from 2021. The number of marriages in Henan Province 489168 pairs, down 17.9% from 2021. Guangxi Guilin and Nanning have seen a decline in the number of marriages compared with 2021. Among them, according to media reports, Nanning's marriage registration data in 2016 was 56,950 pairs, and three years later, in 2019, it fell below the "5" number, and the marriage registration data in that year was 46,600 pairs, and in 2022, it fell below the "4" head, and the number of marriage registrations was 38,354 pairs.

There has also been an increase in the number of marriages registered in cities. For example, Zhejiang Hangzhou will handle a total of 65,315 marriage registrations in 2022, an increase of 5,488 over the previous year, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%, a new high in four years. Zhejiang Ningbo handled 39,767 marriage registrations in 2022, an increase of 32.62% over the previous year.

The reporter combed through the statistical bulletin of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and found that in recent years, the number of marriages on the mainland has been declining, and the marriage rate has also been declining. For example, in 2021, 7.643 million marriages were registered in accordance with the law, down 6.1% from the previous year. The marriage rate was 5.4 per thousand, down 0.4 per thousand points from the previous year. In 2020, 8.143 million marriages were registered in accordance with the law, down 12.2% from the previous year, and the marriage rate was 5.8‰, down 0.8 thousand points from the previous year. In 2019, 9.273 million marriages were registered in accordance with the law, down 8.5% from the previous year, and the marriage rate was 6.6‰, down 0.7 thousand points from the previous year.

The age of first marriage has been postponed in many provinces and cities, and the average age of first marriage in the mainland has been delayed by nearly 4 years in the past decade

According to the big data of marriage registration released by the Department of Civil Affairs of Jiangsu Province, the average age of first marriage in Jiangsu Province in 2022 is 27.49 years old, of which 28.19 years old for men and 26.74 years old for women, while the average age of first marriage in Jiangsu Province in 2021 is 27.29 years old, of which men are 28 years old and women are 26.52 years old, and the age of first marriage in 2022 has been delayed.

The average age of first marriage in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Ningbo, Zhejiang in 2022 is later than in 2021, with Hangzhou postponing from 27.8 in 2021 to 28.15, and Ningbo from 27.1 to 27.95. The age of first marriage in Hubei is more than 30 years old, the average age of first marriage for men is 32.99 years old, and the average age of first marriage for women is 31.23 years old.

According to reports, the average age of marriage registration in Henan Province in 2022 is 29.9 years old for men and 28.8 years for women, which is 30.5 years old for men and 29.4 years for women in 2021. Specific to different provinces and cities, the age of first marriage registration has risen and decreased. For example, the average age of first marriage registration in Zhengzhou City is 29.5 years old in 2021 and 29.7 years old in 2022; for women, it is 28.5 years old in 2021 and 28.8 years old in 2022, which is slightly "postponed".

In fact, the delayed age of first marriage is not a new phenomenon this year. According to the "Chinese Census Yearbook - 2020" released by the National Bureau of Statistics in June 2022, the average age of first marriage in Chinese was 28.67 years old, of which 29.38 years for men and 27.95 years for women. Compared with 2010, the average age of first marriage in Chinese is delayed by 3.78 years, of which 3.63 years for men and 3.95 years for women.

Dialogue with marriage law expert Zhang Jing: marriage is no longer a "must-have" in life

In view of the decline in the number of marriages in the mainland and the delay in the age of first marriage, the Beijing News reporter talked to Zhang Jing, a lawyer at Beijing Lianggao Law Firm and an expert in marriage and family law who has been committed to the protection of women's rights and interests for many years. She believes that the decline in the number of marriages is a normal phenomenon under social development, and the delay in the age of first marriage means that marriage is no longer a "must-have" on everyone's life list, but it may also directly affect the fertility rate of society.

Beijing News: In recent years, the number of marriages on the mainland has been decreasing, and the marriage rate has been declining.

Zhang Jing: I think this is very normal. The institution of marriage has not always existed, it has been derived with the development of the social economy, and it will change with the development of the social economy. For example, from primitive couples, to polygamy, to the current monogamy. Society is constantly changing, such as heterosexual cohabitation, same-sex girlfriends pension, huddle pension between a brother and sister, etc., which may gradually replace the core social pattern of marriage. The demise of the institution of marriage is also very likely. Perhaps one day we will find that the marriage relationship between people is only a constraint, becomes out of place, or is small in number, and is no longer a safe and stable way.

And now there are more and more young people who are afraid of marriage, social concepts are becoming more and more open, cohabitation and marriage are not substantially different in life forms, identity laws such as marriage law on property provisions may be dissatisfied with both parties, so they will not choose the form of marriage, but choose cohabitation to maintain intimacy.

Marriage is also not a necessary prerequisite for reproduction, but it is necessary in the current stage of social development for social management and moral reasons. In fact, with the development of science and technology, fertility methods are becoming more and more diverse.

Beijing News: Why is the age of first marriage delayed?

Zhang Jing: There are many reasons. First of all, I think it is the change of concept, people are becoming more and more rational about marriage, it is no longer a "must-have" on everyone's life list, and secondly, the economic cost of marriage is high. Many young people think that getting married requires buying a house, having a decent wedding, etc. Including rural areas, there is a bride price, and I learned that some rural families have an annual income of less than 50,000 yuan and will buy a car when they get married. Various economic pressures can discourage young people from talking about marriage when they do not have the conditions. Some people, who may not have plans to get married in the early stage, change their minds when they are older, and will also raise the age of first marriage.

Beijing News: What does the postponement of the age of first marriage mean? What is the impact?

Zhang Jing: I think the most important thing is that it means that marriage is no longer a "must-have" on the list of life, "starting a family" these words are gradually outdated, people get married based on fate, feelings, needs, no longer have to get married, blind marriage. From this point of view, this is the progress of ideas and society.

On the other hand, the delayed age of marriage leads to a delay in the age of childbearing, which may miss the optimal childbearing age or even lose fertility when married, which directly affects the fertility rate.

Beijing News: Recently, some experts suggested lowering the legal age of marriage to 18.

Zhang Jing: This is meaningless, people do not marry not because the legal age of marriage is set high, but because they do not want to marry or objective conditions do not allow. If the legal age of marriage is lowered to 18, it may produce some bad social orientation. For example, some patriarchal families currently require 20-year-old women to get married, so at least let women go to high school, go to college, and continue their education. If it is changed to 18 years old, it may marry after high school, which is not conducive to eliminating gender discrimination.

And 18 years old is a stage when a person has just had full civil capacity, at this time lack of ability to make money, unable to lay the foundation for their independent survival in society, eager to enter the "siege" of marriage, will produce many problems, not conducive to the stability of marriage, after giving birth to children, it is not conducive to the education of children.

Beijing News reporter Ye Hongmei

Edited by Tang Zheng Proofread by Liu Baoqing