Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    BESIDES an accelerating aging population and a declining birth rate, China is faced with another demographic challenge: a fast-expanding legion of singles.

    According to data recently released by China’s National Civil Affairs Bureau, nearly 200 million men and women on the Chinese mainland are single. As the data were collected years ago, the number will be much larger now given the fact that more youths of marriageable ages are joining the army of singles. The figure includes those who remain single after a divorce. But my focus is middle-aged unmarried adults.

    Boring data pale before my personal experiences. I can name at least a dozen unmarried children of my relatives or friends. Two of my aunts have unmarried daughters, both in their 40s, and the daughter of my wife’s sister is still single in her late 30s.

    To most Chinese parents, a single adult child at home is a thorn in their side. A lot of unmarried children see their life without a spouse as not very glorious either. Many singles will get withdrawn from society over time to avoid social stress and many parents simply refrain from talking about their children in public if their adult children remain single for too long.

    If you think most singles have chosen to go solo, it is not true. A variety of factors contributes to singleness.

    The daughter of my wife’s sister was longing for marriage in her early 20s, but she gave up on the idea of marriage after having her heart broken at the end of an eight-year relationship.

    A few children of my relatives and friends acquired gamophobia after their parents’ divorces and because of horrible memories of their parents’ violent quarrels.

    Some missed the boat because they thought the grass was greener on the other side. Boys want girls as pretty as their dream movie stars while girls wait for their Mr. Right: handsome, rich and funny.

    Highly educated women with master’s or doctorate degrees are more likely to remain single because it is hard to find matching mates.

    It goes without saying, however, that more women are choosing to stay single for life. Their rise in social status, income and feminist awareness has fueled the increase in the number of single women.

    Another often-overlooked cause is the impact of the Internet, which is dragging young people away from social life, resulting in their remaining single.

    If the above-mentioned reasons for singletons are chiefly personal reasons, then another two causes are more worrying.

    First, the lopsided gender ratio at birth — currently it is 118 males vs. 100 females — will leave at least 30 million men unmarried by 2020. In other words, one-fifth of men will be unable to find a wife in the next five years.

    Second, the soaring costs of tying the knot are discouraging millions of young people from walking down the aisle. The ownership of a home has become the premise for a marriage, but it is a pipe dream for most would-be spouses without parental help. The long list of the bills for a new family is also daunting. The staggering expenses of raising a child further scares away many marriage seekers.

    Many experts are dubbing this time China’s fourth wave of singletons, claiming that it will help boost China’s economic growth. Singles of the middle class, they argue, are financially independent and powerful, so they are more generous with their money.

    In my view, however, the negative factors dwarf the positive ones. At least, my personal observation has proved so. An American medical magazine revealed some health hazards facing singles, especially women: psychological illnesses, a higher likelihood of suffering from cancer and premature death.

    The magazine said that married women and men would live 7-15 and 8-17 years longer, respectively, than single people.

    Studies also show that singles consume more energy and produce more waste than married people, who are more resource-efficient because of their family life.

    More singles mean the deterioration of the population aging issue and increase of the financial burden.

    The issue should be addressed immediately.

    (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.)