By Anjan Roy
China could just as well be contesting with the United States as the new super power, however internally it is facing serious problems with its younger generations turning away from traditional social norms.
China has just witnessed fewest marriages in decades. The Chinese state has an elaborate machinery for gathering information on its citizens. The latest marriage registration figures reveal fewest nuptials. This is having its impact on the Chinese demographics.
China is already witnessing a shrinking population. The overall fertility rate has dropped to 1.3 per woman. Replacement of the existing population level calls for more than two children for every woman.
What is happening in China is indicative of a complete social transformation and changes in preferences of its younger generations. This is end result of a complex interplay of economic, social and cultural developments in the country in the last fifty years.
The latest figure indicates 6.83 million couples married in 2022, down from 7.63 million in the previous year. Besides, the average age for marriage is also rising. A 10% drop in the number of marriages over a year is a matter of concern and cannot happen without deep underlying causes.
Some are ascribing this to the trauma from the experience of common people during the Covid period. The state had come down so heavily that it has created a social trauma and altogether throttled individual freedom, even as much of it as was still left. People were even debarred from leaving their apartments for months.
In one horrific incident, residents of a high rise block were left to die as a fire broke out as covid restrictions made it impossible for fire tenders to come in and douse the fire. The incident got wide coverage in Chinese media. There were wide spread protests.
As a backlash, young people are known to say “theirs was the last generation.” That is, unable to really live in a free society, these younger people are loathe to bring their children in a society which is severely constricted.
There are of course more secular long playing socio-economic dynamics which are discouraging increasing number of marriages.
With the rise in women empowerment and their freedom from Homs, what is being seen widely is the aversion of young women to get married. In a traditional society, the Chinese women are still expected to fulfil their role as the submissive wife, which the younger women of present day are unwilling to bear. They rather opt for career and wider opportunities from being unmarried.
The Chinese economic development has made possible for women to pursue attractive career options. Lucrative professional careers are available, as the economy was expanding and demanding new skill sets. Such jobs are giving them comfortable incomes to afford lives uncluttered by family demands.
The gender transformation in Chinese society is having a multifarious impact as younger women feel increasingly empowered to take their own decisions about their lives rather than be dictated by the traditional social mores.
These socio-economic changes apart, there is no denying that the rising graph of youth unemployment is at the heart of many of these changes.
The primary reason for the drop is the extent of youth unemployment in China, running upto 20%. The jobs available and expectations are also showing an increasing divide. The huge youth unemployment has shown itself in various ways including, not unexpectedly, a tendency to religiosity.
There are reports that more and more younger people are visiting the Buddhist and Tao temples. They are praying for their career and their prospects.
Indeed, China is no outlier. Across the world, population numbers are falling. In China’s neighbouring South Korea, birth rates are reaching rock bottom and the country’s population will halve by another fifty years. Here in India, population growth rate is plummeting. (IPA Service)
The post Chinese Youth Losing Interest In Marriage Will Hit The Country’s Demographic Advantage first appeared on IPA Newspack.
