More urban women choose single life ( 2003-09-08 09:35) (China Daily)
Chinese traditional culture considered marriage and motherhood the only real
options for women, but today those are only two of the many choices available.
Miss Wei, 37, is still living on her own in Dalian in Northeast China's
Liaoning Province. A graduate of a prestigious university, Wei opened her own
company several years ago. Listing "driving, travel, and buying brand-name
clothes" as hobbies, Wei said she is "very satisfied" with single life. She is
not celibate, but doesn't want to compromise her situation by getting married.
In China, more women like Wei are choosing to be single. In 1990 Beijing had
only 200,000 unmarried women but today the number in Beijing and Shanghai, the
two largest cities in the country, tops 1 million.
The latest statistics from the All-China Women's Federation show that in the
past five years registered marriages have decreased annually, dropping by 1
million between 1998 and 2002. Meanwhile, 1.2 million couples divorce every
year, leaving many single mothers.
In addition to choosing to be single, more women are delaying marriage and
motherhood or choosing not to have children at all.
Horizon Survey and Index Network recently surveyed 1,031 residents aged 18 to
60 in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan cities. The results show that
compared to 1997, 11.3 per cent fewer respondents chose to have just one child,
while 1.1 per cent more people chose not to have children and 3.9 per cent more
preferred to remain single.
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