Chinese Govt Plead for More marriages as marriages hit record low in 2024, childcare costs remain high
The number of marriages in China fell by a fifth last year, the largest decline ever recorded, despite many attempts by officials to encourage young people to marry and have children to help with the country’s falling population.
Young people are less interested in marriage and starting families because raising and educating children in China is very expensive. The slow economy in recent years has also made it hard for university graduates to find jobs, and those who are employed worry about their future job security.
According to government figures, just over 6.1 million couples got married last year, down from 7.68 million the year before.
“Unprecedented. Even in 2020, due to Covid-2019, marriages only decreased by 12.2%,” said Yi Fuxian, who studies population trends at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He pointed out that marriages in China last year were less than half of the 13.47 million recorded in 2013.
If this continues, he said, “the Chinese government’s political and economic ambitions will be ruined by its demographic achilles heel”.
Chinese officials are very worried about getting people interested in marriage and having families again.
China has the world’s second-largest population at 1.4 billion, but its elderly population is growing faster than any other country’s.
