The nationwide maternity and marital survey is one of the largest conducted by China as it tries to gain insight into why marriage and birth rates are falling in the world’s most populous country.
Viral images of a mother chained by the neck in a tiny room in Jiangsu province have stoked debate in China about human trafficking and the gender imbalance in rural areas.
China’s economy grew by 8.1 per cent last year, beating most expectations. But a slowdown in the fourth quarter has pointed to trouble ahead amid a worsening demographic picture, slowing property market and virus outbreaks.
Survey among thousands of urban residents aged 18-26 found that 43.9 per cent of Chinese women do not see marriage as a certainty – much higher than the 24.6 per cent among men in the same age group.