Lifestyle
Should Legal Marriage Age Be Lowered to 18?
At this year's annual Two Sessions, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed lowering the legal marriage age to 18
  ·  2021-04-14  ·   Source: VOL.13 APRIL
(HELLORF)

There has always been an age limit for the marriage registration procedures in China. Currently, the legal marriage age is 22 for men and 20 for women.

At this year's annual Two Sessions, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed lowering the legal marriage age to 18. The suggestion has sparked controversy online. Supporters say it is necessary to lower the legal marriage age in China, which has seen the number of marriage registrations drop for five consecutive years. It can help boost the fertility rate amid an increasing aging population and solve the problem of demographic imbalance. However, opponents argue that most people are still students at the age of 18 and are not yet mature enough for marriage. They also lack financial resources to support a family.

Lu Xiaoming

Deputy Dean of School of Law, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics

Guangdong Province

Based on the national conditions at the time, the Chinese Government raised the legal marriage age by two years in the marriage law of 1980 from that of 1950 to align it with the one-child policy. After decades, the fertility rate now in China is lower than the world average level, leading to a prominent demographic gap.

In addition, under normal circumstances, women at the age of 14 and men at 16 could be considered to be physically mature. Getting married is one of the civil rights of citizens. The higher legal marriage age forces physically mature young people to wait for more than six years to get married, which may lead to the phenomena such as cohabitation, affecting the solemnity of marriage as well as the marriage registration system.

Zhang Sujun

Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Beijing

The legal age for marriage needs to be lowered. From 2013 to 2018, the number of marriage registrations in China declined year by year. In the first quarter of this year, it further dropped by 6.7 percent. The direct consequence is a drop in the number of newborns. Though China has made family planning policy more relaxed, such as the universal two-child policy adopted in late 2015, its total fertility rate has fallen below the warning line.

At present, the nutritional conditions, living environment and education background of young people have greatly improved compared with their parents' generation. This provides the foundation for lowering the marriage age. Moreover, the General Principles of the Civil Law stipulate that a citizen aged 18 or above is deemed to be an adult. He shall have full capacity for civil conduct, may independently engage in civil activities and shall be called a person with full capacity for civil conduct. The age of marriage should be equal to that of adulthood. When people have full capacity, they have the right to choose whether to get married or not.

Ding Lieming

CEO of Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.

Zhejiang Province

The current minimum marriage age which encourages late marriage and late childbirth is not compatible with the demographic and fertility trend in China.

The current legal marriage age in China is the highest compared with other countries as well as in the history of China, while the legal age for marriage in most countries is between 16 and 18.

It is necessary to lower the legal marriage age, but the exact age should be set after careful research. At the same time, the policies encouraging late marriage and late childbirth need to be canceled.

Chu Yin

Legal Practitioner

Beijing

A lowered legal age for marriage will not be effective in boosting the marriage rate. What do most people do at the age of 18? It doesn't make much sense for an 18-year-old to get married when they are in school or have just started working and can hardly stand on their own feet.

It is inappropriate to encourage people to get married at a young age if they do not have a solid material foundation to start a family. Lowering the age will do little to boost fertility rate, but can lead to impulsive marriages that may not last long.

A rise in divorce rate has coincided with the decline in the marriage rate. Therefore, lowering the legal marriage age is not enough to change the attitude of young men and women toward starting a family.

Jia Chuntang

Company Employee

Liaoning Province

In the current education system, puppy love is forbidden in high school. At 18, a person is still in high school, and lowering the legal marriage age will conflict with the school regulations and influence students' future choices.

Most Chinese at such a young age do not possess economic ability to afford family life, which is quite different from many foreign countries. Marriage normally means two mature adults deciding to form a new family, taking responsibility to deal with the problems that occur, adapting to different living habits as well as ways of thinking, and making decisions together. A young couple, though mature in a physical sense, may lack emotional maturity to deal with conflicts and contradictions, which can push the divorce rate higher.

Xu Ruiying

Lawyer

Jilin Province

Economic development and social progress have brought more choices for people, but also more challenges. People at the age of 18 are not mentally mature and therefore not fit for marriage. That's also one of the reasons why China decided to raise the legal marriage age back in 1980.

If students get married at 18, their attention will be diverted away from studies, which will definitely impact their growth and future development. What's more, their teachers cannot provide them suggestions or prevent them from getting marriage at such a young age due to the legal provisions.

It is possible that many college students will have to bring up their children on campus if the marriage age is lowered. This will create problems with regard to childcare. The Civil Code, which took effect on January 1, has an article requiring a one-month cooling-off period before divorce. However, there is no such thing as a cooling-off period before marriage.

For these reasons, lowering the marriage age is not appropriate. CA

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