Why China's Women Are Choosing the Single Life
Leadership in China is pushing for more women to get married as the country's birth rate falls for the second consecutive year. But for women like Chai Wanrou, staying single is much more appealing.
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00:00 Chai Wanrou spends her free time as she pleases, browsing bookstores, learning history, ink-pressing.
00:09 In China, she is called a leftover woman.
00:12 No husband, no kids, and no desire for either.
00:16 "Many people who are engaged in marriage, who are not engaged in marriage, they may
00:21 have sacrificed, especially many women, they may have sacrificed their own career development,
00:27 they may have sacrificed themselves, but they did not get a good return, or they did not
00:34 get a happy life that they should have."
00:39 Chai is part of a growing group of women who see marriage as an unfair institution.
00:45 It's a trend around the world as marriage and birth rates fall, and it's become a problem
00:50 for China's government.
00:51 "I hope that the great women will be excited and have a spirit of "dragon and horse" and
00:59 play a role in promoting Chinese modernization."
01:05 Chinese leadership has changed the meaning of a woman's role in China, from worker to
01:11 mother and caregiver.
01:13 "The government itself defined the term 'leftover woman' to mean a woman who is 27
01:21 years old or older, who is educated and single.
01:26 Basically sending the message to young women in China that they need to hurry up and get
01:33 married, stop thinking about their careers, otherwise if they keep delaying marriage,
01:40 no man will ever want them."
01:42 For Chai and many other women, the pressure is not working.
01:47 As the birth rate plummets, youth unemployment in China hits record highs.
01:52 For those who want families, having children is simply not affordable.
01:56 "I think this problem is useless.
02:00 If you don't solve the problem fundamentally, the will to get married and have children
02:06 will still be very low.
02:07 The fundamental reason is that people feel that life is stressful and they can't afford
02:13 to raise their children, so they choose not to have children."
02:19 As the government in China pushes for more families, the trend of remaining single is
02:25 growing.
02:26 And Chai and many other women in China will continue living their lives as they please.
02:31 Alex Chen and Harrell Hughes for Taiwan Plus.
02:34 Taiwan Plus.
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