Monday 11th November is Single’s Day in China (11/11), hallmarking the pressure on young Chinese to find a suitable partner in the national dating pool. In 2011 the number of singletons in China reached a staggering 180 million, with cities such as Shanghai and Beijing each surpassing an unmarried population of 1 million.
To companies these numbers are a mere business opportunity as the newest hot product on the market, the “Lonely LaMian” bowls complete with mobile phone stand for people eating alone, clearly shows. To individuals being single is a reality previously thought of in China as the End. Have the advent of a new millennia and the influence of Western culture done anything to alleviate the pain of being a “left over” person in the Middle Kingdom?
While social and parental pressure is high on young Chinese to settle down in their 20s (or before their 25th birthday where girls are concerned), China is currently facing its “Fourth Single Wave”, with a growing amount of people willingly staying single and choosing an independent lifestyle.
The recent survey by web portal NetEase, “2013 Dating White Paper: Quality of Single Life”, aimed to uncover the goings-on in the minds of 21st century singletons. According to the study, a minority of Chinese has not fallen victim to the marriage craze, rather enjoying being on their own instead. In the survey, 11.65 percent of 60,039 participants indicated that they were very happy with their current situation and were not considering marriage. As reasons for their absence of marital bliss most participants responded with “work pressure” or “restricted circle of friends”. In a high-pressured, fast moving modern environment, people simply lack the time to go out and meet new potential partners.
The study further concluded that while the unmarried population faced some additional pressures, their overall psychological state was – surprisingly one might say – very stable. The message to be taken away from the latest figures is that marriage in China is no longer a prerequisite for a successful life.
Despite this growing trend, there is still an undeniable stress placed by society and media on the importance of getting married. Current reports paint pitiful portrayals of “left-over women”; those above 27 years who are considered “too old” to attract a husband, but the future might see this trend reversed. China’s irregular average gender ratio of 100 girls per 117 boys is turning the marriage market upside down. Despite a declining birth rate in correlation with the one-child policy, estimates place the number of eligible bachelors by 2020 at 30 to 35 million, putting eligible women in a rather powerful position and increasing the pressure on young men to become house owners in order to attract potential partners.
With a growing number of the population now choosing to be single rather than despairing at the prospect of remaining a one-(wo)man show, there is a glimmer of hope that the future will bring with it a society more accepting of the “left-over” generation.
