Record numbers of people are opting out of marriage in the US, China, Japan and the UK. The decline is particularly strong among the middle and working classes – the socioeconomic groups that were once the champions of marriage. In Japan and South Korea, marriage and birth rates are correlated and a downward trend may predict a growing population crisis.
About 90 percent of the world’s population currently lives in countries where marriage rates are declining. In the United States, marriages have fallen by 60 percent since the 1970s, while the median age at first marriage has increased for both men and women.
“There are a few big factors at work here. One big factor is the changing economy,” said Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.
This trend affects many countries around the world but is most pressing in East and South Asia, where marriage and childbearing are highly correlated.
“Governments around the world are worried about the economic implications,” said Lang Lang Thang of the National University of Singapore.
Declining marriage rates are turning into a demographic crisis for Japan – the world’s third-largest economy and home to the world’s oldest population.
And a similar problem is troubling authorities in China, which registered the fewest marriages since public records began in 2022.
“By 2050, China’s working population will decline by 10 percent, and there won’t be enough children to fill the gap. The dependent population, which reaches retirement age, will double,” warned Yi Liu of King’s College London.
Watch the video above to find out what is causing an increasing number of couples around the world to call it quits.
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Source by [CNBC News]
