The number of new marriages in China dropped to its lowest level ever in 2024, despite the government’s efforts to encourage young people to marry and have children, according to a CNN report. Data from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, released on Saturday, showed that only 6.1 million couples registered their marriages last year—a sharp 20.5% drop compared to 2023. This is the lowest figure since the ministry began publishing such data in 1986. China’s declining marriage rates and increasing divorces pose a major challenge for the government as it faces a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, both of which are putting pressure on the world’s second-largest economy. After a brief rise in 2023, when Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, the downward trend resumed in 2024. Last year’s number of marriages was less than half of the 13 million recorded at the peak in 2013. Meanwhile, divorces slightly increased, with nearly 2.6 million couples filing for divorce—28,000 more than the previous year. This comes despite China’s introduction of a mandatory 30-day “cooling-off” period for divorcing couples in 2021, a policy that critics argue makes it harder for women to leave unhealthy or abusive marriages. China’s population has been shrinking for three consecutive years, even though the birth rate saw a small increase last year. The working-age population (ages 16 to 59) fell by 6.83 million in 2024, while the number of people over 60 continued to grow, now making up 22% of the population. Officials believe the decline in marriages directly impacts the country’s falling birth rate. In China, social norms and legal hurdles make it difficult for unmarried couples to have children. To tackle this issue, the government has introduced various measures, including financial incentives, blind dating events, mass weddings, and efforts to reduce the costly “bride price” tradition that makes marriage difficult for poorer men, especially in rural areas. Some local governments have even offered cash rewards to couples who marry. Since 2022, China’s Family Planning Association has launched programmes to promote a “new-era marriage and childbearing culture,” encouraging young people to marry and have children at an “appropriate age”, reported CNN. However, these efforts haven’t been very effective. Many young Chinese are postponing or completely avoiding marriage and parenthood due to high unemployment, rising living costs, and limited social welfare amid an economic slowdown. “Life is so exhausting, how could there be the courage to get married? Sigh,” read a top comment on Chinese social media platform Weibo in response to the news. Experts say that decades of population control policies have also played a role. Even after China ended its one-child policy in 2015, allowing couples to have two children—and later three in 2021—marriage and birth rates kept falling. (with inputs from CNN)
