WUNRN
All-China Women's Federation
CHINA - MORE WOMEN PASS ON MARRIAGE
By Chen Yaya - Edited by Sun Xi -
July 22, 2011
"China
is experiencing its fourth wave of singles," according to the Survey on
the Living Conditions of Urban Single Women which assistant researcher Chen
Yaya from the the Institute of Literature, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences,
presented this month at the Chinese Social Harmonious Family Forum and Ninth
National Family Issue Symposium in Guangzhou.
Chen pinpoints in her paper the three main singleton tides in the history of the People's Republic of China. The first, in the 1950s, was apparent in the rash of divorces after promulgation of China's first Marriage Law. The second was in the 1970s, when swathes of young intellectuals who had been sent to the countryside in 1968 for education through manual labor divorced their rural wives in order to return to their urban homes. The third mass avoidance of marriage in the 1990s is attributable to changes in traditional values wrought by the Reform and Opening up policy.
The fourth singleton trend can be put down to rapid economic development at the end of 20th century and women's heightened awareness of the value of their independence. The growing numbers of women deciding not to marry have, moreover, brought about the so-called single-oriented economy.
More Women Choose Singlehood
"The first three singleton tides were temporary, and driven by the objective situation. That women are consciously deciding not to marry is what distinguishes the fourth tide," Chen said in her paper.
Research carried out in 1996 by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group implies that women constitute the majority of urban youth that relish unmarried life.
A survey in 2005 showed women as accounting for 60% of Beijing singles aged between 30 and 50, and that 82% of Shanghai women were happy to stay unmarried.
A Shanghai sample survey in 2007 implied slightly higher growth of single women than men, and that willing singles tend to be urban residents.
Independence for Life
"The more they gain from independence, the more inclined women are to analyze their role within a traditional marriage," Chen said. "Many now dare to express as well as hold unconventional views."
These include the observation that married life is demanding and exhausting: "Life after marriage appears to me an endless round of work at the office during the day, housework and childcare at night and visiting parents-in-law at weekends."
Another is that singleton life is happier because it avoids the demands of being a wife and mother.
Many researchers agree that the single woman social group signifies women's independent subjectivity, and their capability of living a totally independent life through their own efforts. In other words, marriage is now a choice rather than an economic necessity.
Chen holds that women who reject the traditional female roles and question traditional marriage conventions are most likely to stay single.
"They are challenging the mainstream marriage system by experimenting with different lifestyles and proving to themselves that not playing the traditional role of wife and mother is freer and more enjoyable," Chen's paper said.
Chen points out, however, that women must be prepared to deal with life's pressures alone and to use their own efforts to expand their living space. They must also earn public approbation by making contributions to the community.
Career First
Free from family commitments, single women can devote all their energies to their career.
But they must overcome enormous pressure in the workplace. A joint survey by For Him Magazine and Sina.com showed that 57.37% of single women in Shanghai work more than eight hours a day.
Single-oriented Economy
The growth in singles has given rise to the "single-oriented economy," which Chen defines as that generated by the consumption of single career women. She cites a survey showing that 30.35% of single women intend to buy their own houses – another departure from the convention of relying on a boyfriend or husband for housing.
But this is an ambition difficult to achieve owing to rocketing house prices and few single-oriented housing units.
Chen proposes that single women might lead the market in the future. "Few enterprises take into account the consumption requirements and services of single women, but are bound to in future as the single women social group expands."
Fertility
Chen points out the widespread assumption in China, based on conventional marriage patterns and general disapprobation of premarital sex, that single women do not have a sex life.
Single women are not included in the gynecological check-ups that are part of regular physical examinations organized by their work units.
Social pressure inhibits single women from being open about their sexual needs and relationships.
Childbearing is another issue, as reproductive rights are part and parcel of the marriage deal.
"Single women in mainland China do not qualify for maternity insurance and must pay the social compensation fee when registering a child's household residence," Chen said.
Single women residents of Shanghai of childbearing age are obliged to pay the 15,919 yuan social compensation fee for bearing a child. This makes single motherhood a daunting financial proposition.
Such policies, however, are undergoing adjustments in mainland China.
4% of Single Women Are Gay
"As the media and hence society becomes more open, the public is also more acceptant of female homosexuality," Chen's paper proposes.
According to the For Him Magazine survey, around 4% of Chinese women are single because of their sexual orientation and 4.75% among single Shanghai women are gay.
"Although many gay women are brave enough to stand up for themselves
and say no to heterosexual marriages, few find homosexual life partners,"
Chen said.
(Source: msn.ynet.cn/Translated and edited by womenofchina.cn)