China Told To Drop Marriage Age To Boost Birth Rate

A national political advisor has called on China to lower the legal marriage age to boost its declining birth rate—yet analysts tell Newsweek such a move is unlikely to sway young Chinese.

Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry with a request for comment by email.

Why It Matters

Chinese are tying the knot later and in fewer numbers than ever before. Last year, the country recorded just 6.1 million marriages, which was over a 20 percent drop year-on-year.

Young couples are delaying having children or opting out of having children, citing long work hours, a yearslong property crisis, rising living costs, and a change in values. Policymakers are worried the trend, combined with a surging number of retirees, will threaten long-term economic growth.

What To Know

China currently has some of the world's highest marriage age requirements, set at 20 for women and 22 for men.

Chen Songxi, a statistician and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has proposed lowering the marriage age to 18, the standard in most developed countries, reported Chinese state tabloid the Global Times.

He stressed the change would not be compulsory, just aimed at expanding young people's options, capitalizing on reproductive potential, and aligning with global norms.

This is one of several policy changes Chen is putting forth.

Another is to completely remove restrictions on the number of children per couple. He also called for the nationwide adoption of pro-natal policies already introduced in some local areas, such as monthly cash subsidies per child.

He suggested that China has 10 years to introduce such incentives to the greatest effect, citing statistics projecting that the number of women of childbearing age will stabilize at around 300 million during this window.

Beijing ended its decades-long one-child policy in 2016, first allowing two children, then increasing the limit to three in 2021.

However, this has had little effect on young couple's family planning. And there is no evidence lowering the marriage age will either, said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow at Victoria University's Centre of Policy Studies in Melbourne, Australia.

"In many countries, birth rates continue to decline despite relaxed marriage or childbirth policies, she told Newsweek. "For example, in Japan and South Korea, both countries face declining birth rates despite legal marriage ages being 18 or lower," she stated.

"Lowering the legal marriage age might slightly increase the number of married young couples, but it does not address the key reasons why Chinese youth are delaying or avoiding marriage and childbirth."

Peng added that to make raising a family more appealing, financial incentives, housing support, and lower living costs should be combined with shorter, flexible working hours, the option to work from home, and legislation prohibiting sex discrimination at work—a common concern among women delaying childbirth.

What's Being Said

Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who conducts demography research, told Newsweek:

"Even lowering the legal age of marriage to 18 will do nothing to boost the fertility rate now that people have become accustomed to marrying young and having children later. China's age of first marriage in 2020 was 29.4 years for men and 28.0 years for women, and it will continue to be delayed, following along the same path as Taiwan and South Korea."

What's Next?

China's fertility rate—the number of children expected per woman—last year rose for the first time in eight years. This was attributed to the end of strict anti-pandemic measures in late 2022, however, and not expected to last.

China's fertility rate—the number of children expected per woman—rose last year for the first time in eight years. However, this has been attributed to the end of strict anti-pandemic measures in late 2022 and is not expected to affect the long-term trend.