For China's nearly 200 million unmarried men and women, bachelorhood comes with a big cost -- from career to property. [File photo]
On Nov. 11, Chinese people wowed the world again by spending a record-breaking US$14.2 billion on the online shopping platform Tmall, a subsidy of Jack Ma's Alibaba, much more than U.S. counterparts do on "Black Friday". What is commonly known as the "Double 11 Day" was first coined to celebrate being single, but for China's nearly 200 million single people, being on their own is often no something to celebrate, as it comes with a huge cost in a society where marriage is still the norm.
- Glass ceiling: Wang Yu works in a State ministry. He and his bachelor colleagues are invited to dinner on Mid-Autumn Day every year, normally an occasion for family reunion in China. His superiors often greet them with a sympathetic tone, saying the dinner was intended to convey "warmth" to unmarried staff on this particular occasion. Wang, 43, has attended the "bachelor dinner" for years, but instead of feeling warmed, he is disheartened. He enjoys his single life -- he practices traditional Chinese handwriting for one hour every day, plays volleyball every week, and reckons to read about 60 books a year. However, bachelorhood poses problems in the workplace. Every year, the work unit will come up with what is called an "ideological and political work plan," an umbrella term that includes courtship and marriage targeting single staff. Once, a leading official said the first priority of the work that year was helping Wang get married. "In China, in traditional State ministries like ours, the working style is paternalistic.They think that being single is a potential risk and poses an insecure element. They think it indicates we cannot be capable of being leading officials caring for their subordinates," Wang said. What comes with being single is not only having to attend the uncomfortable "bachelor dinner", but lack of access to promotion and welfare benefits. Last year there was a vacancy for department chief in Wang's workplace. Someone recommended him for the position, but he was turned down by a leading official on the grounds that Wang remained unmarried. "Being married may not help you, but being single may probably prevent you from being promoted," Wang said, "Leading officials may think you lack a 'collective-conscious' or that you have no desire for progress."
- No right to be a parent or homeowner: Earlier this year, Chinese actress and director Xu Jinglei revealed that she had frozen her eggs in the United States. Later, the State broadcaster China Central Television reported that single women in China are not entitled to give birth through the technique of freezing eggs, which has attracted some debate online. According to Chinese laws, only those reproduction-challenged couples who produce marriage certificates, identity cards and pregnancy permits can have access to assisted reproductive technology. Though some hospitals do provide egg freezing services to single females, they must present the three certificates and permits, difficult to come by if one is unmarried. Though many countries in the West recognize people's right to reproduction regardless of marital status, most Chinese still hold to the traditional thought that an unmarried mother is quite questionable, said Wang Guixin, director of the Population Research Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai. In addition to being unable to raise a child on one's own, becoming a single homeowner is often out of the question as well. A strict property purchase policy was introduced in Shanghai in 2010, barring singles who are not registered in the city from buying property there. Lin Yong is one of the people being denied access in this way. The single woman has worked for nine years in Shanghai and she has looked at 30 to 40 apartments, but when she read from the papers that she was disqualified for buying property, all she could do was fume silently. Some real estate agents suggested Lin obtain a fake marriage certificate, but she rejected this, wondering why a fake marriage is acceptable while being genuinely single is not. "Government agencies seem to think that single people do not need an apartment, that real estate is not a rigid demand for singles, and that single people are a group that can be sacrificed and neglected," Lin said.
- The price of being an unwed parent: Wei Shan is an unmarried mother living in Beijing. She got pregnant when she was no longer young, but kept the daughter and raised her on her own. Wei's daughter is almost three now, with a much frailer body than her kindergarten classmates. Wei sometimes feels it's her fault as she is not able to take good of her daughter on her own. What worries Wei more is having her daughter registered in the city, as Chinese laws do not recognize out-of-wedlock birth. Love children are subject to the so-called "social support fees." Wei was fined 240,000 yuan (more than US$37,000) in 2013, six times the per capita disposable income prevailing in the city that year. Wei argued that this was her first child and should not be subject to such a costly fine, but she was told that as the biological father of her daughter had a child from an earlier marriage, hence the big fine. Wei thought of a number of ways to get around the unreasonable treatment, but she was eventually intimidated by the possible risks. Now, she haggles over the fine with the father of her child. If the father decided not to assist, she could go to the court, but that would only push up the cost. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. Source: China.org.cn
