Is it necessary for a young man to have an apartment as a prerequisite for marriage?

In China, which is following its own unique development path, different from other developing countries in the world, becoming a husband is not easy. In the new "common sense" of China, housing trumps marriage and has become a major obstacle for young men hoping to start a family.

China may breed a new group of bachelors, men caught in the trap of unaffordable houses.

Since early 2009, the housing market has once again become a hot pot at boiling point. Even with subsidies and special government policies, home prices in China's first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are riding the crest of a rising wave. According to the "2010 China Marital Status Report" jointly released on Dec 15, 2010, by the China Association of Marriage and Family Studies, the Committee of Matchmaking Service Industries under the China Association of Social Workers, and China's leading marriage service provider Baihe.com, about 70 percent of women interviewed said that housing, a stable income and some savings were the main requirements for marriage.

From the report, we can see that housing is given top priority and that women see an apartment as essential to show that the man is responsible and can provide for his family.

Personality and morals lay outside the top three matrimonial requirements. Some women and their families hold the traditional position and take it for granted that the home issue should be the man's responsibility, which defies the contemporary independent spirit of women and gender equality.