When China started its one-child legislation in 1980, it not only made marriage easier, but it also raised the bar for relationship. This made the problems even worse. The divorce rate soared from 0.3 per 1, 000 persons in 1980 to 3.4 in 2019.
In response, China adopted a novel civil code in 2021 that mandated a 30-day cooling-off time for marriage, following the example of the UK and France. However, despite this lowering of the divorce rate to two per 1,000 people, it has since risen to 2.66 by 2023, much higher than Japan’s ( 1. 5 ).
FIRST BIRTH AT OLDER Years
Chinese men and women have a very small biological window. By the age of 30, a person usually has 12 % of her hens left, and only 3 % by the age of 40.
The risk of miscarriage increases from 10 % for women under 30 to 20 % at 35, between 33 % and 40 % at 40, and between 57 % and 80 % at 45. With the family’s period, the chances of having a child with Down syndrome rise from one in two thousand at 20 to one in 350 at 35, and off to one in 30 at 45.
Curiosity in raising children decreases as the wedding time is increased.
That’s why about two-thirds of all births are delivered by people under the age of 30 worldwide. In the United States, Mexico, and India, parents were just 21 when they were first born.
In contrast, Taiwanese women’s average age at first birth has increased rapidly over the past few years, from 25 in 2000 to 28 in 2020. In Shanghai, it increased from 30 in 2019 to 32 in 2024.
Worse, China’s overall rate of infertility has increased from 1 % to 2 % in the 1970s to 8 % in 2020. More and more people are having their second child or becoming pregnant after marriage.