18-6-2023 (BEIJING) Divorce rates in China have reached record highs in recent decades while marriage and birth rates have declined drastically. In 2012, the number of divorcees outnumbered newlyweds for the first time. The divorce rate hit its peak in 2019 at 4.71 million before falling to 2.1 million in 2022, partly due to delays in processing divorce applications during COVID-19 lockdowns and the government’s introduction of a 30-day “cooling off” period.
In imperial China, divorce was typically initiated by men and women had limited rights to end a marriage. At the start of the 20th century, influenced by Western notions of freedom of marriage and divorce as well as gender equality, the Nationalist government liberalized divorce laws, allowing it with mutual spousal consent or if women filed for it. However, divorce remained highly stigmatized and difficult for women to obtain.
In the 1950s, the Communist Party introduced the Marriage Law abolishing feudal marriage practices and establishing a new system based on monogamy, gender equality and free choice of spouse. The law was mainly used by women to escape arranged marriages, leading to its nickname as the “divorce law”. In the 1980s, irreconcilable differences were accepted as grounds for divorce. In 2001, domestic violence and infidelity were added. In 2003, letters from employers were no longer required to register for divorce.
These reforms made divorce accessible and affordable in China. The 30-day cooling-off period introduced in 2021 appears to have come too late to curb rising divorce rates substantially in the long run.
China promoted family planning in the early reform era, restricting most families to one child between 1979 and 2015. Unlike their parents raised under Maoism, the one-child generation has embraced Western notions of romantic love and personal freedom. For them, marriage is based on love and choice. This has fueled “naked marriages” – without wedding trappings – and short-lived “flash marriages” and “flash divorces”.
The post-1980s generation has experienced immense change, investment and support from family and state. As women’s education and careers have advanced, patriarchal marriage norms have evolved. More women have become breadwinners, while popularized “softened masculinity” has stoked fears of a “masculinity crisis” and stronger women dominating weaker men.
The modern feminist movement in China champions women’s rights and interests, from combating sexism to enabling women to share surnames with husbands. Women have become less tolerant of unsatisfactory marriages and see divorce as protection of their rights. Men divorce when wives do not meet expectations of traditional gender roles. However, those with fewer economic and social resources, especially women, face more difficulties accessing and exercising the right to divorce. Divorced women with children often struggle financially and to remarry.
The post-1980s generation faces rising costs of living, unaffordable housing and increasingly stressful “involution” lifestyles, relying heavily on parents financially and emotionally. Parents have invested substantially in their only child’s education, wedding and home, legitimizing interference in their adult children’s personal lives, from arranging dates to supervising marriages. This meddling often strains relationships and leads to divorce.
Economic troubles and lockdowns have exacerbated stresses, contributing to more domestic violence and underlying tensions, with implications for divorce rates. Since reopening, many provinces have reported surges in divorce, with long queues outside civil affairs offices.
China’s rapid economic growth has unleashed an array of reasons for divorce – financial security, personal freedom, mobility and materialism. Changes in relationships and intimacy have led to more cohabitation, premarital sex, prostitution and infidelity, damaging marriages.
Post-1980s generations celebrate divorce. Since 2010, “elegant” divorce ceremonies have emerged to solemnize the end of love and marriage. Many women share and applaud their post-divorce lives on social media, calling divorce certificates “happiness certificates”. Some spend heavily on divorce photo shoots.
While alarming for the state and agonizing for families, for others divorce signifies liberation and “happily ever after”. China’s divorce revolution reflects a society amid immense flux, where notions of love, marriage and gender roles are being radically rewritten. But greater freedom and choice have come at the cost of stability, with significant implications for families and society.
