China’s provinces offer to subsidize weddings to promote marriage

Local governments in China are so concerned about their declining marriage rates that they’re even planning to subsidize ceremonies and honeymoons.

Officials in North China’s Shanxi Province have earmarked an estimated 95 million yuan ($15 million) in cash incentives for married couples to take effect within a year, China Women’s News reported on Wednesday.

The subsidies include wedding-related costs, such as honeymoons, and even daily items such as household appliances.

In Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, officials are also proposing similar incentives.

Among their planned incentives is a gold jewelry subsidy of 3 yuan per gram.

Tong Hui, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Guizhou Provincial Committee, cited data from a local dating website saying that out of its 1.5 million users, 63.9 percent were of late marriage age.

The government defines late marriage age as 23 for women and 25 for men, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Tong believes the government should facilitate a matchmaker role – by supporting agencies and programs to provide opportunities for young people to date.

However, in a recent Guizhou government survey of unmarried people, a total 78 percent said they were satisfied with being single.

Wang Guangzhou, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted by the People’s Daily as saying that the number of unmarried Chinese men between 35 and 59 years of age will reach 15 million in 2020 and 30 million in 2050.