Unprecedented changes that have come about as a result of
China's reform and opening-up have also seen a rising divorce rate
becoming a prominent feature of life, a Chinese scholar explained
to a forum in Beijing yesterday.
According to a report issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in
mid-May, the divorce rate has been on the rise since 2002. A total
of 1.785 million couples divorced in 2005, which is 120,000 more
than the previous year. This is a divorce rate of 2.73 per
thousand.
Chen Rongzhi, a scholar with the Overseas Chinese University in
southeast China's Fujian Province, attributed the rise to the
itinerant population at a forum on building harmonious families
held by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF).
"A great floating population occurs as people in rural areas
move to cities and between cities for higher incomes, leading to
more diversity among marriage partners," said Chen.
"A family member's migration creates greater chances to disrupt
the stability of a family and a marriage," she said.
"China's traditional ideas are giving way to new ones, such as
Internet dating, one-night stands or quick marriages," said a
report by Tang Can, a scholar with Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.
Tang described these new phenomena as the young generation's
pursuit of "sensuous satisfaction" and they treated marriage less
seriously than their parents, which tended to drive up the divorce
rate.
However, the rising divorce rate also reflects a positive side,
Chen said. The freedom to marry or divorce shows a more tolerant
social atmosphere and respect for individuals.
China has more than 300 million families with two-thirds of them
from rural areas, according to ACWF.
Families have undergone great changes in the past two decades
due to many factors, said Chen, such as the aging society?that
put much pressure on families to take elderly relatives under the
present social security system, and the one-child policy that has
obviously altered the traditional multi-children family
structure.
(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2006)