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March 19, 2015

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Home » Metro » Society

City records 12% drop in divorce numbers for first time in 5 years

By Hu Min | March 19, 2015, Thursday | Print Edition

THE number of divorces in the city, involving at least one Shanghai partner, dropped 12.47 percent last year — the first drop in five years, the city’s civil affairs authorities said yesterday.

The drop is seen as a “correction” after the numbers shot up to a record high in 2013 when restrictions on house purchases were announced. It led to a flood of people filing for divorces to avoid paying taxes on their second homes.

A total of 60,825 couples with at least one Shanghai partner divorced in 2013, the largest jump in recent years, which was 37.4 percent from 2012.

Last year, 52,871 couples in the city divorced, but the figure was still high, said Chen Zhanbiao, director of the marriage registration division of the bureau.

Chen said the divorce rate in China was below 1 before 2002, and rose to above 2 in 2010. In 2013, it reached 2.6 percent.

People between 30 and 40 years old accounted for the biggest proportion of divorcees, totaling 40,884. There were 19,033 people below 30 years seeking divorce, the report said.

Divorces among people born after 1980 have been rising in China. Experts claim people became more self-centered and less tolerant in a marriage as they were a pampered lot under the one-child policy.

Falling out, loss of affection, incompatibility, financial difficulties, extramarital affairs, geographic distances, family disputes, unhealthy life habit, sex and differences in opinion about children’s education were among the main reasons for splitting up, said Chen.

He said the number of people reaching marriageable age was also on the decline in the city, but the influx of a large number of out-of-town people who stay and work in the city offset the decline, making the city’s marriage figure stable in five years.

Among those saying “I do,” 50,094 couples involved inter-provincial marriages, a drop of 9.47 percent from 2013.

The number of Shanghainese men marrying out-of-town women was still much higher than Shanghai women tying the knot with men elsewhere from China, Chen said.

People from Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces topped the list of inter-provincial marriages, and Tibet and Qinghai were the least, according to the report.

The average age for first marriage for local women dropped slightly to 28.14 years, and 30.11 years for local men last year, which was down 0.05 and 0.06 years respectively from 2013, the bureau said. It was also the first dip in recent years, Chen said.

There were 1,962 cross-border marriages, down 4.48 percent from 2013. It involved locals marrying people from 71 countries and regions, with the United States, Japan and Australia topping the list. Chen said earlier that unlike before, marrying a foreigner now no longer guarantees wealth, immigration benefits and a happy marriage. People are now pursuing quality in marriage, he said.

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