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China Faces 'Dangerous' Bride Shortage

One-child policy blamed for bachelor surplus

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 12, 2010 3:21 AM CST

(Newser) – Some 24 million Chinese men of marrying age will be unable to find a bride by the end of this decade because of the country's one-child policy, according to a Chinese government report. The policy has resulted in a surge in sex-selective abortions since the '80s, especially in rural areas, as parents try to ensure that their one child is a boy.

China's leadership fears that the huge surplus of bachelors will lead to rising crime and social unrest, the Times of London reports. Officials have resisted calls to scrap the one-child policy, arguing that with 200 million people reaching child-bearing age in the next decade, abandoning the policy would put serious pressure on development.

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

A couple take wedding pictures in front of the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China. (Getty Images)

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The chance of getting married will be rare if a man is more than 40 years old in the countryside. They will be more dependent on social security as they age and have fewer household resources
to rely on. - Researcher Wang Yuesheng

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COMMENTS

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kROCK91

Jan 13, 2010 12:58 PM CST

I've been to Taiwan many times, and the younger generations increasingly consider themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese. Some of them even actually "hate" mainlanders, and they have a lot of ridiculous stereotypes about mainlanders. Unless they were super-desperate, I don't see them moving to China for marriage, considering they can have as many kids as they want in Taiwan, and the standard of living in Taiwan remains well above most of China.

kROCK91

Jan 13, 2010 12:56 PM CST

It's well known that Vietnamese, Filipino, Malaysian and other women are being imported as brides. There's also apparently a group of female scam artists, who are promising marriage, but steal money and ditch the men before the wedding. As for the one-child policy, it's well known that rich people disregard it, since they can easily afford the fines. Not that I'm fond of that policy, but it's certainly scary thinking about China's neighbor, India, which is supposed to be the first nation to hit 2 billion, in 2020.

Kookey90

Jan 13, 2010 4:05 AM CST

I've got four niece's on my wife's side of the family whom are in their mid twenties to early thirties whom still live at home, whom my brother-in-law would be willing to ship over to China at cost. Unfortunately they are all bone ugly; my brother-in-law married ugly.

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China Faces 'Dangerous' Bride Shortage