亞洲結婚率下降

 
   今天我跟台灣及日本還有智利朋友午餐飯後的聊天，發現三個女生裡頭竟然全數都不想要結婚生孩子，雖然略有耳聞，但還是讓我小小驚嚇一下。讓我想起在North Melbourne Library讀經濟學人雜誌(Economist)過去裡頭的一篇文章(The decline of Asian marriage)，跟大家作分享。

  我這三位朋友分別是日本及台灣的朋友是已經要邁入三十歲大關的輕熟女，而智利這位朋友是已經要向四十初頭了(聽到的時候著實讓我出乎意料, 因為她現在在澳洲讀Eco tourism專業)們大概講了一下她們不想結婚生子的原因是- 不想讓小孩子影響自己享受人生的權利。小孩子，對她們來說，是自從懷孕到懷胎十月生下他/她，是她們必須負責照顧的義務，因為這樣必須放棄職業、投入許多時間及金錢，近而錯失追尋自己夢想的時間及機會。


然而，經濟學人裡頭提到：

Marriage rates are falling partly because people are postponing getting hitched. Marriage ages have risen all over the world, but the increase is particularly marked in Asia. People there now marry even later than they do in the West. The mean age of marriage in the richest places—Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong—has risen sharply in the past few decades, to reach 29-30 for women and 31-33 for men.

之所以結婚率下降的原因是因為人們延後她們結婚的時間。全球的結婚年紀都在上升，但以亞洲的變化最為顯著。即時她們在西方也比她們在那裡的還要來得早結婚。在日本、台灣、香港、南韓和香港再過去這幾十年的裡有著顯著的成長：女生結婚年齡為29-30歲；男生則為31-33歲。


-結婚率下降的原因：

Women are retreating from marriage as they go into the workplace. That’s partly because, for a woman, being both employed and married is tough in Asia. Women there are the primary caregivers for husbands, children and, often, for ageing parents; and even when in full-time employment, they are expected to continue to play this role. This is true elsewhere in the world, but the burden that Asian women carry is particularly heavy.

（前略）在亞洲的女生在婚姻中主要是照顧丈夫、小孩，還有年紀大的父母親的角色，即時是全職的工作，還是被期待扮演這個角色。....(略)

-結婚率下降造成的後果

The flight from marriage in Asia is thus the result of the greater freedom that women enjoy these days, which is to be celebrated. But it is also creating social problems. Compared with the West, Asian countries have invested less in pensions and other forms of social protection, on the assumption that the family will look after ageing or ill relatives. That can no longer be taken for granted. The decline of marriage is also contributing to the collapse in the birth rate.

（前略）結婚率下降也早導致出生率的跌落。

   在文章最後，經濟學人雜誌有提到解決方式，我就不再多說了。對我來說，是一個相當早的問題，但希望藉由這樣的一個分享可以讓我對這個議題有著更深刻的想法，我們必須關心生活周遭的大小事情！讓你參考囉:)

Kent