China considers radical changes to marriage age to overcome demographic crisis

A Chinese advisor suggests lowering the marriage age to 18 to boost the birth rate. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.

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China is once again talking about the need to stimulate the birth rate amid a declining population. Chen Songxi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, called for lowering the minimum marriage age to 18. In his opinion, this will help to expand the birth rate base and create more favorable conditions for young families. 

Under current law, Chinese men can marry from the age of 22 and women from 20, which is one of the highest age thresholds in the world. Chen believes that lowering this threshold would be in line with international standards and promote demographic growth. 

The initiative came on the eve of the annual parliamentary session, which will propose new measures to combat the decline in the birth rate. Over the past three years, China's population has been shrinking, and the marriage rate has fallen by 20%, a record low. 

The reasons for the demographic crisis lie in the high costs of raising children, the changing priorities of the younger generation, and the consequences of the one-child policy that was in place from 1980 to 2015. Currently, China allows up to three children, but this was not enough to reverse the trend. 

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