In China, marriage and childbearing have always been regarded as inevitable choices and important responsibilities in life. In recent years, however, some young people have begun to reflect on this traditional notion by voluntarily choosing to be celibate, choosing not to start a family and giving up responsibility for future generations. These people are known as "empty nesters", who seek personal freedom, pursue a stable life, enjoy an independent lifestyle, and devote themselves to career success and personal growth.
In their view, marriage and children only bring additional responsibilities and burdens that are not in line with their life values. According to statistics, the number of empty-nest youth in China has exceeded 100 million in 2022, and this data is still soaring. Expert**: If they continue to insist on not getting married and not having children, then hundreds of millions of families will be wiped out in the future.
This phenomenon has attracted wide attention from all walks of life and sparked heated discussions on the Internet. Let's take a look.
Driven by urbanization and economic development, many young people have left their hometowns and flocked to bustling big cities, eager to find more opportunities and challenges here. At the same time, however, high housing prices and the cost of living have become a huge obstacle for these young people, making it impossible for them to afford to buy a house or get married, and they have to choose to live in a small rented space.
Behind this phenomenon, it is not only an economic problem, but also a diversification of marriage and love views and lifestyles. With the renewal of social concepts, many young people are no longer willing to be bound by traditional marriage, and pay more attention to the pursuit of self-realization and personalized life choices. This trend of thought makes them reluctant to marry hastily and unwilling to be constrained by traditional family values, and are more inclined to pursue an independent lifestyle.
The shrinking of social circles and blind dates is also one of the reasons for the increase in empty nesters. In big cities, people live at a fast pace and their social circles are gradually narrowing, making it difficult for young people to find suitable partners. The traditional way of blind date is also gradually declining, and young people pay more attention to independent choice, but at the same time, they lack sufficient dating and dating skills, which leads to difficulties in falling in love, and finally chooses to live alone.
With the rapid development of the Internet and technology, virtual space occupies an increasingly important position in young people's lives. Many young people prefer to immerse themselves in the virtual space through social**, short**, etc., while ignoring real interpersonal and emotional needs. This makes them gradually break away from the traditional concept of marriage, prefer to live alone, and choose a lifestyle of not marrying and having children.
In general, the increase in empty nest youth is not only affected by urbanization and economic factors, but also the result of multiple factors such as marriage and love concepts, social styles, and technological development. This phenomenon not only triggers thinking about individual lifestyles, but also calls on society to pay more attention to the diversified needs of young people in terms of marriage concepts and life choices.
Empty nesters, living alone, have the advantage of independence and freedom, but also come with a series of psychological and social challenges. The advantage of this way of life is that they are able to enjoy their independence to the fullest, freely arranging their time and space, and getting rid of the distractions and constraints of the traditional family. This provides them with more opportunities and challenges to pursue their personal dreams and realize their own values.
One of the advantages of living alone is the ability to manage your own time. Empty nesters don't have to think about other people's habits and needs, and they have more freedom to plan their own schedules. This allows them to devote more attention to work, study or personal hobbies, and have more opportunities to pursue their career goals and development directions. The independent living state also cultivates their self-management ability, learns to take responsibility for themselves independently, and handles the trivial matters of life more maturely.
In addition, empty nesters are able to develop more well-rounded life skills by living alone. They need to solve life's problems on their own, from shopping and cooking to cleaning their homes. This exercises their practical skills and cultivates flexibility and independence in problem solving. In dealing with difficulties and challenges, empty-nest youths have learned more resilience and improved their resilience in the face of pressure.
However, there are also a number of psychological and social challenges to the lifestyle of empty nesters. One of the most significant issues is the possibility of facing psychological distress such as loneliness, anxiety and helplessness. Living alone can easily make people feel lonely, and the lack of family affection and friendship support from friends can make them feel psychologically empty. When facing problems in life, the lack of timely support from family or friends can also easily lead to the accumulation of some negative emotions.
In addition, over-reliance on the internet can be another problem with empty nest youth's limited social circles and lives. Immersion in virtual spaces can lead to a decrease in real social interactions, making it difficult for them to establish stable social relationships. This can be a source of confusion in finding the right partner and establishing a stable marriage, as a narrow social circle can affect their chances of meeting new people.
Netizens' views on empty nesters.
Every Chinese New Year, there will always be something similar to this on the Internet**: The girl faces the urging of seven aunts and eight aunts to marry at the dinner table, "tongue war", debating what are the benefits of marriage, which attracts the praise and support of many netizens.
It stands to reason that the seven aunts and eight aunts urge marriage, also for the good of the children, hoping that the children can find their own home as soon as possible, can have a support, and become a family, but why are the children unwilling?
In the final analysis, as many netizens said, "Young people can't see hope." ”
Take feelings as an example, feelings are not a good thing, and now I don't want to be at that time, I used to be slow, and I only loved one person in my life, but now?
With the development of science and technology, in order to live, many people first work outside the world, and the people they know often change, the outside world is too big, resulting in many people's feelings and instability, and the concept of marriage at home or that person has also undergone a great change, and even some want to break up and divorce if they don't agree, how can such feelings last long, such a marriage, is it happiness or sin for the children?
Speaking of social pressure, in the eyes of many empty nesters, the cost of raising children is too high, which is why they are unwilling or unable to have more children, or even choose to be infertile and extinct. This phenomenon not only affects the happiness of individuals and families, but also poses challenges to the country's demographic and economic development.
According to relevant data, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in Chinese families in 2020 was 4850,000 yuan, the average cost of childbirth is a multiple of per capita GDP, second only to South Korea, ranking second in the world.
These costs include education, health care, food, clothing, housing, transportation, entertainment, and other expenses, as well as the time, energy, and opportunity costs of parents caring for their children. If you add to that the cost of raising children during college, the average cost of raising a child rises to 6270,000 yuan.
The cost of parenting is also related to the region, income level and number of children.
Generally speaking, the cost of raising children in urban areas is higher than that in rural areas, the cost of raising children in developed areas is higher than that in less developed areas, the cost of raising children in high-income families is higher than that of low-income families, and the cost of raising a child is higher than that of a second or third child.
The high cost of parenting has made many families of childbearing age feel a heavy financial burden and find it difficult to take on more responsibility for childbearing. At the same time, childbearing can also affect the work and career of parents, especially the career development and social status of women.
In addition, fertility is also affected by social culture, education system, marriage and love market, etc., resulting in many young people's conception of fertility and fertility intentions have changed, and they are more inclined to have fewer children or no children.
According to the 2021 national population data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of births in 2021 was 10.62 million, and the birth rate was 752, a record low.
In fact, empty-nest youth are not only a phenomenon that occurs in China, but also many young people abroad who choose or have to live alone and face similar problems and challenges. According to international data, in 2019, the proportion of people living alone in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France and other countries exceeded 20%, of which the United States has nearly 36 million people living alone, Japan has 18 million, South Korea has 5.8 million, Germany has 17 million, and France has 9 million.
A significant proportion of the population living alone in these countries are empty-nesters, and their living conditions and psychological states have many similarities with those of empty-nesters in the country, such as loneliness, anxiety, helplessness, and lack of social and emotional support.
Therefore, empty-nest youth is not a phenomenon in our country, and they are also facing this problem abroad, and how to break this dilemma, so that empty-nest youth can not only enjoy an independent life, but also meet emotional and social needs, has become a problem worth pondering.
What are your thoughts on this?