HONG KONG — China may make marriage easier and divorce harder, the latest step in the country’s attempts to build a “family-friendly society” and boost a sagging birth rate.
Couples wishing to marry will no longer need to register at their place of residence, and the cumbersome process for marriage registration will also be streamlined, according to the revised bill released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday.
However, divorces will now have a 30-day “cooling off period” during which either party can stop divorce proceedings if they don’t want to divorce, as authorities hope to discourage hasty separations. The change sparked fierce criticism on Chinese social media, with a tag about the new law receiving more than 500 million views on the social media platform Weibo.
“When you need something done they simplify the process, when you don’t they just make the process and queues go on and on,” one user wrote.
“If the education issue is not properly addressed, how can the marriage issue be addressed,” said another. “The biggest expenses for a family are education and medical expenses.”
More young couples are delaying marriage or putting it off altogether. Wang Yanbin / VCG via Getty Images file
The bill marks a continuing attempt by the Chinese government to reverse the effects of its four-decade-old one-child policy, which was intended to halt a rapidly growing population. China now faces the opposite problem: a looming demographic crisis and a shrinking, rapidly aging population.
The Chinese government sees marriage as part of the solution in a country where marriage certificates are required to register children and receive public benefits.
Given that marriage plays a key role in the government’s family planning strategy, lawmakers have reason to be worried. After a brief surge following last year’s lockdown, the number of marriages in the first half of this year was the lowest for the same period since 2013. Some 3.43 million couples married, down 500,000, or about 13%, from the same period last year, according to official data.
The decline in marriages is being blamed on young people delaying or putting off marriage altogether, as uncertainty about the future in the world’s second-largest economy, which is struggling to create jobs.
This comes despite rapid government efforts to boost marriage and birth rates through policy reviews and financial incentives. In 2021, the government allowed couples to have up to three children.
Earlier this year, newlyweds in some counties became eligible for cash payments if they wed early, and authorities are also offering new parents subsidies for childcare, education and childbirth.
The ministry said it was accepting public comments until Sept. 11 on the bill, which would amend a 20-year-old marriage registration law, simplify divorce procedures — only ID and marriage certificates are required — and include a 30-day deadline first introduced in 2021.
Earlier this year, China began offering its first four-year college degree program on all things marriage, with the curriculum including wedding planning, matchmaking services and marriage counseling.
Ray Wang with assistance from Reuters.
