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Tuesday 15 March 2011
Wedding bells ringing for money rather than love
Finding the ideal partner is rarely easy but on the mainland - where an estimated 260 million are hunting for a spouse - the process is often more about economics and pragmatism than a desire for romance, a major survey finds.
Finding the ideal partner is rarely easy but on the mainland - where an estimated 260 million are hunting for a spouse - the process is often more about economics and pragmatism than a desire for romance, a major survey finds.
According to the “2010-2011 China Marriage and Relationships Survey”, released on the eve of Valentine’s Day, mainland lonely hearts are increasingly adopting a traditional approach to marriage - from the use of match-makers to the perceived importance of finding a good social match.
The survey - which claims to be the largest of its kind within the United Nations - was organised by a nationwide consortium of media outlets and quizzed 21,694 single mainlanders aged 23 to 35 over the course of a month using both online and traditional questionnaires. Just under two thirds of the survey’s respondents were female.
Societal and economic factors in the mainland today - from the rising cost of housing and an increasingly materialistic culture to a significant gender imbalance - are ramping up traditional tensions over the need to marry.
With the first generation of men born under the one-child policy now at marrying age, they are coming under immense parental pressure to find a bride - while facing a shortage of women of a similar age.
At the same time, professional women, who are still single above the age of 27, have become a social phenomenon all of their own - dubbed “leftover women”, they tend to have difficulty finding husbands due to their higher earnings and education.
But the survey’s results suggest attitudes towards marriage and the process of finding a partner are becoming increasingly conservative and governed by traditional values.
More than 60 per cent of respondents said they believed a “harmonious social match” was an important factor for selecting a future spouse, citing similar life experiences and family backgrounds as being conducive to a successful marriage.
The overwhelming majority of the singles said they were willing to be fixed up through match-making services, with 90 per cent saying dating agencies were a good idea and over half saying they had already attended blind-dating activities of some form. A potential partner’s financial status was seen as the most important factor when sizing up matches offered.
The survey also found that there was a big gender gap in terms of attitudes to having a “nude wedding” - tying the knot without first buying a house and car, and holding a minimal registry office ceremony that did not involve a banquet or wedding rings.
While some 75 per cent of male respondents said they felt it would be acceptable, just 38 per cent of women were willing to consider doing so.
The growing numbers of lonely hearts on the mainland desperate to tie the knot is reflected by the trend for dating shows, which have become some of the mainland’s most popular television programmes in recent years.
But the shifting social attitudes they portray have also been the source of controversy.
A contestant on the hugely successful show If You Are the One - in which 24 female contestants get the chance to question a single wannabe Romeo - provoked an outcry last year when she used an overtly materialistic put-down on an unemployed suitor.
“I would rather weep in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle,” Ma Nuo told the man after he offered to take her for a romantic bicycle ride.
1 comment:
Wedding bells ringing for money rather than love
Will Clem in Shanghai
15 February 2011
Finding the ideal partner is rarely easy but on the mainland - where an estimated 260 million are hunting for a spouse - the process is often more about economics and pragmatism than a desire for romance, a major survey finds.
According to the “2010-2011 China Marriage and Relationships Survey”, released on the eve of Valentine’s Day, mainland lonely hearts are increasingly adopting a traditional approach to marriage - from the use of match-makers to the perceived importance of finding a good social match.
The survey - which claims to be the largest of its kind within the United Nations - was organised by a nationwide consortium of media outlets and quizzed 21,694 single mainlanders aged 23 to 35 over the course of a month using both online and traditional questionnaires. Just under two thirds of the survey’s respondents were female.
Societal and economic factors in the mainland today - from the rising cost of housing and an increasingly materialistic culture to a significant gender imbalance - are ramping up traditional tensions over the need to marry.
With the first generation of men born under the one-child policy now at marrying age, they are coming under immense parental pressure to find a bride - while facing a shortage of women of a similar age.
At the same time, professional women, who are still single above the age of 27, have become a social phenomenon all of their own - dubbed “leftover women”, they tend to have difficulty finding husbands due to their higher earnings and education.
But the survey’s results suggest attitudes towards marriage and the process of finding a partner are becoming increasingly conservative and governed by traditional values.
More than 60 per cent of respondents said they believed a “harmonious social match” was an important factor for selecting a future spouse, citing similar life experiences and family backgrounds as being conducive to a successful marriage.
The overwhelming majority of the singles said they were willing to be fixed up through match-making services, with 90 per cent saying dating agencies were a good idea and over half saying they had already attended blind-dating activities of some form. A potential partner’s financial status was seen as the most important factor when sizing up matches offered.
The survey also found that there was a big gender gap in terms of attitudes to having a “nude wedding” - tying the knot without first buying a house and car, and holding a minimal registry office ceremony that did not involve a banquet or wedding rings.
While some 75 per cent of male respondents said they felt it would be acceptable, just 38 per cent of women were willing to consider doing so.
The growing numbers of lonely hearts on the mainland desperate to tie the knot is reflected by the trend for dating shows, which have become some of the mainland’s most popular television programmes in recent years.
But the shifting social attitudes they portray have also been the source of controversy.
A contestant on the hugely successful show If You Are the One - in which 24 female contestants get the chance to question a single wannabe Romeo - provoked an outcry last year when she used an overtly materialistic put-down on an unemployed suitor.
“I would rather weep in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle,” Ma Nuo told the man after he offered to take her for a romantic bicycle ride.
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