Is It Difficult to Be Single in China?

China has more people than any other country, but that doesn't mean it's easy to meet that special someone. In fact, the marriage rate in China has been on a downward trend, as many adults put their careers before their love lives. Trying to turn the tide, some businesses have been coming up with novel ways to get their employees thinking about things besides work. In 2019, for example, at least two companies offered their female employees over the age of 30 an additional eight days of leave during the Chinese New Year celebration just so they could date and possibly meet the man of their dreams. Part of the issue stems from the longstanding stigma that suggests that women who reach their late 20s or 30s without meeting their match are "leftover," and therefore undesirable. Of course, many of those women are simply more focused on the firm than a family, but that doesn't necessarily sit well with traditional cultural norms. According to Huang Lei, a human resources manager at one of those companies, female employees sometimes are so career-attentive that they don't take time to think about relationships. "They have less contact with the outside world," Huang said. "Thus we hope to give more leave to them to give them more time and opportunities to be in contact with the opposite sex."

Men, women, and family in China:

• In China, by law, family members must visit their elderly relatives on a regular basis.
• There are approximately 34 million more men than women in China.
• After more than three decades enforcing a "one child" per family policy, China is now encouraging families to have at least two children.