China is contemplating significant changes to the legal marriage age to address its demographic crisis.
A Chinese advisor suggests lowering the legal marriage age to 18 to encourage birth rates. This was reported by Reuters, as conveyed by UNN.
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In China, the conversation about the need to boost birth rates has resurfaced amid a declining population. Chen Songxi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has called for reducing the minimum marriage age to 18. He believes this will expand the birth rate base and create more favorable conditions for young families.
According to current legislation, Chinese men can marry at 22, while women can do so at 20, which is among the highest age thresholds in the world. Chen argues that lowering this threshold would align with international standards and promote demographic growth.
This initiative was presented just before the annual parliamentary session, where new measures to combat the declining birth rate will be proposed. Over the past three years, China's population has been decreasing, and the marriage rate has dropped by 20%, marking a record low.
The reasons for the demographic crisis include high costs of raising children, changing priorities among the younger generation, and the effects of the one-child policy that was in place from 1980 to 2015. Currently, China allows families to have up to three children, but this has proven insufficient to reverse the trend.