Shanghai marriage delays due to high house prices
Last year, the average age a Shanghainese man got married was just over 32 years old, while for women it was 29. Both of these are an increase of almost a year over the respective 2008 data. This trend to get married later in life appears unique to Shanghai among Chinese cities, whose couples follow marriage trends in Europe and North America more closely than those in China.
So why are Shanghainese delaying marriage?
A recent Sina.com post put the reasons for Shanghai's later marriages in several categories, the top ones being money, singlehood, living arrangements and the practice of arranged marriages.
Reason for later Shanghainese marriages #1: Can't afford to get married
“It's too expensive to get married,” says Da Ke, a 30-year-old man who was planning to get married recently. “We were almost married, but the price of property went suddenly up right before we were going to register.”
In Shanghai, owning a home is an integral part of marriage. Many couples reported having to put off their weddings due to Shanghai's notoriously high housing prices. For them, no house means no wedding. Da Ke and his girlfriend are among many couples who want to get married but cannot afford to. “I don't know how long we will have to postpone it,” Da Ke adds.
But it shouldn't be a huge surprise that costs can be a major marriage deterrent. In a survey recently release by Tencent on pre-marriage costs in six major Chinese cities (the costs involved in buying a house, house decoration, home appliances, furniture, a car, a wedding banquet, the honeymoon and the cost of gift and dinner), Shanghai came top, costing an average of RMB 1.4 million per couple.
Reason for later Shanghainese marriages #2: Do not want to marry young
“I want to enjoy being single for as long as I can,” says 29-year-old Darcy, who is getting married. “I want to have fun while I can.”
Darcy is part of Shanghai's growing class of young people who are well-educated, independent and financially stable. But they’re in no rush to marry, as they increasingly feel able to make decisions on their own terms.
Ella, who works in PR in Shanghai explains why she -- and many girls like her -- isn't married yet: “Some girls ask for a handsome husband with higher education, a high salary, property and cars -- these are important."
Reason for later Shanghainese marriages #3: Cohabitation
“You need an impulse to get married, it's like a rush of blood in your head,” says 26-year-old Shen Jun who has been living with his girlfriend for several years but has lost any inclination to get married. With the increasing acceptance of long-term cohabitation in Shanghai, many pairs see living together as a more affordable and acceptable option where it would have been scandalous a few years ago.
“This is my seventh relationship,” Shen says. “After living together for a long time, it's just like being married. Besides it takes so much to get married, now I'm practically married, just without the certificate or the burdens of buying an apartment.”
Reason for later Shanghainese marriages #4. Arranged marriages
Although parents no longer have the power to decide who their grown children are supposed to marry, arranged marriages still occur in Shanghai.
“I told my parents I'd be single for one more year, then I'd get married,” says Yin Hua, who graduated from university in 2005. “Not having to get married early meant freedom to me.”
Even though Yin Hua didn’t have a boyfriend, she had no doubt that she would be married within a year. “I knew how it would happen," she explains. "My family would find me someone who meet their requirements, I'd go out with him for a few months and then get married.” Yin got married exactly a year later, at the age of 26.
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