Commentator: Qiu Yanbo.
At the age of 18, the school prohibits early love, will it be good to persuade marriage in such a context?
At present, population structure and fertility policy have become the focus of social attention. Gan Huatian, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a professor at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, suggested that a more active birth policy should be implemented, one of which is to appropriately lower the legal minimum age for marriage in China, and suggest that it be revised to no earlier than 18 years old for both men and women.
Objectively speaking, lowering the age of marriage is the trend of the times and is also in line with the world. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has held that the legal age of marriage should not be less than 15 years. The current legal age of marriage in China is 22 years for men and 20 years for women. This legal age is considered to be the latest legal age for marriage in the world due to the implementation of family planning in that year. The legal age of marriage varies from country to country in the world, but it is generally around 18 to 20 years old.
The legal age of marriage in Iran is 9 years old, and the legal age of marriage in the Netherlands is 12 years old, these two are special and have no reference value, and other countries are as follows: 15 years old in France; Filipino male 16 years old, female 14 years old; The UK is 16 years old for both men and women; Japanese male 18 years old, female 16 years old; 18 years old in Russia, 20 years old in Switzerland, 18 years old in Switzerland; Denmark, Finland and Poland are 21 years old male and 18 years old female Today, the legal age of marriage a few decades ago is no longer suitable for today's society. Therefore, whether it is to be in line with the world or to increase the fertility rate, China's legal age of marriage can be appropriately lowered.
What Professor Gan didn't expect was that his proposal caused heated discussions among netizens. On March 4, some deputies suggested that a mechanism for college students to prevent addiction to online games should be established by appropriately extending the age of the online game control crowd. Netizens ridiculed that college students can't play games freely, but high school students can get married freely?
The reason why netizens are hotly discussing getting married at the age of 18 is based on practical considerations. At the age of 18, he has just graduated from high school or even has not yet graduated, and such a young man has no job and no income, so what can he get married? Got married at the age of 18, how can you go to college, do you have a baby while studying? Even if the young person himself is willing to get married, ask his parents if they agree? If there is no strong economic support, getting 18-year-olds married is prone to various problems, which is irresponsible for their lives and society. At this age, the body may be mature, but the mind is not yet fully mature, and marriage is not a wise choice.
International experience has shown that socio-economic development leads to lower marriage and fertility rates. Lowering the age of marriage to increase fertility may not be as effective as people think. The legal age of marriage in South Korea is 18 for men and 16 for women, and the age of marriage for women is lower than the age recommended by Professor Kim, but the country's fertility rate has been repeatedly depressed in recent years. In 2022, South Korea's fertility rate fell to 078, ranking first from the bottom in the world. In the fourth quarter of 2023, South Korea's fertility rate** reached 065, setting a new record for South Korea and the entire human country.
Young people marry late and have low childbearing, which has little to do with the legal age of marriage and has a lot to do with the pressure of life and work. Guarantee the jobs of young people, increase the income of young people, reduce the pressure of young people, increase the spare time of young people, and young people dare to get married and have children. Lowering the age of marriage, while reasonable, has had a limited effect on increasing fertility.