NO RESPONSIBILITY
China’s leaders are now faced with a quandary because the same group of women are increasingly resistant to their advertising despite decades of improving children’s education levels, workplace involvement, and social mobility.
Long-term one lifestyles are becoming more prevalent in China, creating online communities of largely single women who seek support from like-minded people.
On Xiaohongshu, China’s Instagram page, articles with the tags” No relationship, no children” from women influencers who are frequently in their 30s or 40s often receive thousands of likes.
Another social media platform called Douban has 9, 200 people, while another dedicated to” singleism” has 3, 600 people who discuss social retirement programs, among other subjects.
Liao Yueyi, a 24-year-old unemployed student from the southern area of Nanning, just told her mother that she “wakes up from hallucinations about having children.”
Not getting married or having children is a choice I made after much thought. My parents have accepted it, and I do n’t owe anyone an apology,” she wrote on WeChat.
Otherwise, she has chosen to “lie level,” which is a Chinese expression for doing just enough to get by, and save money for upcoming trips.
” I think it’s okay to date or cohabitate,” she said, adding that she has thought about renting a home with some adult companions when they all retire.” I think it’s okay. Children are a great property investment with little results.”
Many of the ladies interviewed cited a need for self-discovery, disillusionment with masculine Chinese family interactions, and a lack of “enlightened” female partners as the main reasons for staying single and childless.
Gender equality is another factor: all the people said it was challenging to find a man who valued their independence and believed in equitable division of household labor.
According to Xiaoling Shu, professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis,” there’s an oversupply of highly educated women and not enough very educated men.” According to standard information, the one-child plan has resulted in 32.3 million more men than women in 2022 as a result of decades of operation.
According to Shu,” college-educated people become more strong followers in defending their rights and status in society.” Fewer well-educated women seeking friendly life partners find suitable men who support women’s rights.
Although not all of the people interviewed identified as feminists or viewed themselves as intentionally defying the authorities, their activities reflect a wider pattern of Chinese women independence expressed through individual choices.
Delay marriages and declining fertility are likely to pose a threat to China’s demographic goals, even though some analysts believe that the number of people who remain single for life wo n’t increase exponentially in the future.
Women’s eagerness for marriage and childbirth will just continue to decline, according to female Lü.
” I think this is the most significant long-term crises that China may experience,” he said.