China home to 30 million men in search of a bride, census shows
- Of the 12 million babies born last year there were 111.3 boys for every 100 girls, once-a-decade study says
- Shortage of single women mostly a result of China’s one-child policy that ran for almost four decades
This is the eighth in a series of stories about China’s once-a-decade census, conducted in 2020. The world’s most populous country‘s national demographic data will have far-reaching social policy and economic implications.
China’s long-standing preference for male babies means it now has about 30 million unmarried men, and despite the latest census suggesting a slight increase in the number of girls being born, the problem is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, experts say.
The numbers underscore the prevailing desire of Chinese families to have sons rather than daughters, according to Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at Hong Kong University of Science of Technology.
“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.
“Also, more women are staying single longer, so the marriage system is being upended.”
