China has 30 million unmarried men, census sparks concern over shortage of brides

China's national population census showed that the country has 30 million more men than women. China’s seventh national population census announced by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that of the 12 million babies born last year there were 111.3 boys for every 100 girls. The data shows the preference of people of China to have a son over a daughter. 

Gender gap in China

There has been a slight increase in the number of girls being born but the gender gap issue is not resolved yet, reported news agency ANI quoting the South China Morning Post. Stuart Gieten-Basten, a professor said that the families in China prefer having a son rather than a daughter. He further said that women in China prefer staying single for a long time which has led to the suspension of the marriage system.

"Normally in China, men marry women who are much younger than they are, but as the population ages, there are even more older men, which exaggerates the situation", he said. 

As per the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s fertility rate was 1.3 children per woman, below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. Jiang Quanbao, a demography professor has said that China's one-child policy that was implemented in 1979 and withdrawn in 2016 has led to abortions in favour of boys in China. Quanbao added that between 1980 and 2020, about 30 million to 40 million more males were born than females which means that there is a shortage of brides. Cai Yong, an associate professor of social demography at the University of North Carolina, said that men from the lower class faced the most difficulty in finding brides. He warned that without marriage men would face physical and psychological health problems.

Bjoern Alpermann, a professor of contemporary Chinese studies at the Julius Maximilian University of Wurzburg has warned of a shortage of brides by the time the boys reach marriageable age. Alpermann said that it would take time for people to change their attitude. He further warned that the sex ratio will remain the same until people have a preference for having a male child over a female. 

"Of these 12 million babies that were born last year, 600,000 boys will not be able to find a marriage partner their same age when they grow up."

(Inputs from ANI)

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