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"It's very expensive for us to get married, especially in a big
city like Shanghai," the 32-year-old said, as he took a break
from a ticketed networking event for wealthier, top
university-educated singles at an upmarket Shanghai jazz bar.
"In terms of financial ability, it actually puts a lot of
pressure on young people, including me."
As the world's second biggest economy slows, an increasing
number of people are opting to stay single due to poor job
prospects amid record youth unemployment and chronically low
consumer confidence, leading to a record slump in marriage
registrations in 2022.
This reluctance to tie the knot is worrying policymakers
grappling with a decline in births and a rapidly aging
population in a country that was once the world's most populous,
and where marriage rates are closely tied to birth rates as
unmarried mothers are often denied child-raising benefits.
China's fertility rate is currently one of the world's lowest,
and official data on Wednesday is expected to show that the
population fell for a second consecutive year, renewing concerns
about the demographic decline.
Last year, President Xi Jinping said it was necessary to
"actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childrearing"
to foster national development. Local governments have also
announced various measures to encourage new families, including
tax deductions and housing subsidies, as well as cash 'rewards'
for marriages if the bride is aged 25 or younger.
Julia Meng, whose company "Julia's Events" organised the
Shanghai singles event, said an increasing number of people aged
35 and older had effectively "given up" on marriage.
Younger Chinese, like event attendee Jack Jiang, say they want
to get married, but high housing prices, uncertain job prospects
and the general economic situation isn't helping.
"It's not that we want to be single, it's the urban structure,
economic situation that have led to this result," the
32-year-old entrepreneur said.
(Additional reporting by Xihao Jiang; Writing by Farah Master;
editing by Miral Fahmy)
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