Chinese University Rolls Out Undergraduate Degree Course in “Marriage”: Will You Take It?

By Chirali Sharma

The slowly but steadily declining rate of China’s population is certainly becoming a problem for the country and ways are being created to promote the institution and in turn the idea of family and having kids.

The declining rate of marriage has also been noticed after China saw a population decline for a second consecutive year in 2023. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China saw a drop of 0.15% or 2.08 million to 1.409 billion people in 2023, much higher than the decline of 850,000 in 2022.

China also saw a rise in the death rate last year, which along with a record low birth rate of 6.39 births per 1,000 people with new births falling 5.7% to 9.02 million has led to policymakers trying new ways to bring up the birth rate again.

This might be why a new undergraduate course in marriage is being launched to promote the marriage culture among the younger generation.

What Are These Marriage Classes?

The Civil Affairs University in China has recently introduced a new undergraduate marriage program to promote marriage-related industries and culture.

The program will be taught under the Vocational University of Civil Affairs a newly created institution under China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The Vocational University of Civil Affairs based in Beijing will launch the four-year program in September with its curriculum including subjects like wedding planning, matchmaking services and marriage counseling.

The dean of the university’s School of Wedding Culture and Media Arts, Yu Xiaohui speaking about this Marriage Services and Management program said that “Currently, most of the marriage-related majors focus on the small sector of weddings.”

As reported by CNBC, Yu speaking with local media further explained that “It starts from before [a couple] starts a family — from marriage matchmaking, to premarital counseling, marriage registration, wedding services, and then extending down to counseling before divorce.”

Other modules included in the course are:

• sociology,
• wedding venue design,
• family ethics,
• the economics of the marriage industry and
• family policies.

Students will also get to intern at organisations involved in weddings, matchmaking, marriage registration and counseling.

The Global Times also said that this program will be “highlighting China’s positive marriage and family culture to students and the public and advancing reform of China’s marriage customs.”

Around 70 undergraduates from 12 provinces will be enrolling in this particular course as told by the vice president of the university, Zhao Honggang, in the local media.

Reports have stated that marriage is considered a requirement when having children in China given that many policies revolve around it, such as the registration of a baby that requires the parents to submit a marriage certificate if they want the benefits attached to it. Single women and LGBTQ couples are not eligible for this though.

The news of this course did bring up some ridicule from users on the Chinese social media platform Weibo with one commenting “It’s time to start a state owned marriage agency.”

Another user wrote “This industry is not just a sunset, it’s doomsday,” while another said “Learning this major is really unemployment after graduation.”

While the country’s one-child policy is considered one reason for the population decline, there are many other concerning reasons why the younger generation chooses to stay away from it all.

Record high rates of youth unemployment, falling wages for white-collar workers, the property sector crisis, and other social reasons are also being given as to why the Chinese youth are not getting married and having children.

As per a VOA report data released in January of this year showed that “more than half of Chinese between the ages of 25 and 29 remained unmarried in 2023.”

32-year-old Zhang Yu (name changed) as per reports explained that “Marriage, childbirth, and loans for houses and cars are all liabilities, which are overdrafts from the future,” and how “When the economic downturn is obvious, if there is no source of income, we can only reduce expenditures.”

Many of those considered within the marriage age find it better to be single than married since it is easier to take care of just a single person in the current economy and cannot afford all the expenses that come with marriage.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments about how women should “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people’s views on marriage, childbirth, and family” was met with criticism from Fang Xu, a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley commenting

“As a woman, I have a college degree. You want me to give up my career, be a good wife and mother, and serve you? Why should I live such a life?”

Originally published at https://edtimes.in on August 2, 2024.