Deep Dive: China’s stressed university students are too busy to date

Owen Cao is a first-year graduate student at a university in northern China. He juggles a mountain of responsibilities: research, coursework, study sessions, and tasks assigned by his supervisor.

The 22-year-old ocean engineering student finds little to no time for dating.

He said he was fine with being single “right now” and was not actively looking for a relationship. “But if I meet the right person, I’d be open to giving it a try,” he said.

Cao and his three like-minded dorm-mates reflect a growing reluctance among young Chinese to pursue dating due to busy schedules. There is also a rising level of comfort with being single.

The trend could worsen the country’s already low marriage and birth rates. It has rung alarm bells among academics and policy advisers.

An article was recently published in China Population News, a newspaper affiliated with the National Health Commission. It called on universities to “play a leading role in marriage and relationship education”. It also suggested offering students optional courses about the subject.

The article sparked a heated online debate about whether the government planned to interfere in young people’s dating choices in the face of the country’s worsening demographic crisis.

China’s university students carry heavier burdens nowadays. They face intense competition as economic growth slows. There are also fewer job prospects.

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The value of an undergraduate degree has been reduced. More young people are pursuing master’s or even doctoral degrees to improve their employment prospects or delay their entry into the job market.

According to Cao, today’s students are under pressure – from universities, counsellors, parents, and classmates – to focus on securing a recommendation for postgraduate study, starting from their first day as an undergraduate.

A 2021 survey of 14,000 university students by the China Youth Daily newspaper found that nearly 70 per cent were single. Experts and students suggest that figure may be higher now. They say China’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic reduced opportunities for interpersonal relationships.

A recent survey by the School of Public Administration at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law found that 56.9 per cent of student respondents had no interest in dating at the moment.

Staff writers

1. According to News, why does Owen Cao “find little to no time” for dating?

2. List TWO reasons why university students face more academic stress compared to previous generations.

3. To what extent do you agree with the idea of university courses on relationships? Explain using News and your own knowledge.

1. What is the artist trying to depict in the graphic? What is the meaning of the piles of papers and books?

2. Using News, list TWO factors that contribute to the situation shown in the graphic.

• In 2023, China reported the lowest number of births since records began in 1949

• Policies to encourage marriage and children have failed, as they overlook issues like gender inequality and higher living costs

China is grappling with an ageing population, low birth rates, and a decline in the number of couples getting married. According to Li Ting, a demographics professor at Renmin University in Beijing, one reason for these issues the default mindset among young people today, which is to focus on making money and securing a job. Dating is seen as optional.

“In the past, society worried that dating would distract one from work or studies, but now the overall atmosphere has shifted,” Li said, pointing to a growing sense of urgency at the national and governmental level about China’s low birth rate.

In 2023, China’s population dropped for the second year in a row to 1.4 billion, representing a decline of over 2 million. Only 9 million births were reported in China that year, the lowest figure in records dating back to 1949.

If China’s fertility rate remains on its downward trajectory, for every newborn in the future, six people would die – a trend that threatens to intensify the nation’s demographic crisis.

“With the current half-hearted incentive policies, not only is it impossible to raise the fertility rate, but even maintaining it at 1.0 seems out of reach,” warned a recent report published by the YuWa Population Research Institute.

Efforts to encourage people to have children have largely failed, as they overlook deeper issues like inadequate childcare, persistent gender inequality, and higher living costs.

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A YuWa 2023 report estimated that the average cost of raising a child from birth to 17 years old in China was 485,000 yuan (HK$514,828), while the cost of raising a child to college graduation was about 627,000 yuan (HK$665,562).

The average urban worker in China earned 94,519 yuan (HK$100,332) a year in 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In China, where conservative societal norms see most children born to married couples, raising the marriage rate is central to boosting birth rates.

In 2024, China hit its lowest number of marriage registrations since 1980. Demographer He Yafu estimated that only six million couples would tie the knot that year.

Yuan Xin, vice-president of the China Population Association, noted that young people are increasingly seeking fulfilment outside of love and marriage. There is also competition between the virtual world and the real world.

“Their dependence on the internet became even greater during the pandemic ... that’s made dating in real life even more complicated.”

Society is also more accepting of the “no marriage, no children” mindset, he added.

“In the past, there was a strong herd mentality – everyone was getting married, so they did too. People didn’t really think about why they were getting married,” Yuan said. “But now, young people find it too much of a hassle.”

1. Based on Issue, which of the following is true?

(1) China recorded its lowest number of marriage registrations of all time in 2024.
(2) China’s population declined last year for the second year in a row.
(3) Society is still not very accepting of the “no marriage, no kids” mindset.
(4) Many Chinese young people consider getting married to be a hassle.

A. (1), (2) only
B. (1), (3) only
C. (2), (3) only
D. (2), (4) only

2. According to Issue, why is raising the marriage rate important for battling China’s population crisis?

2. Name TWO factors contributing to the decline of marriage and birth rates in China. How do they reflect broader societal changes?

1. List ONE observation about China’s birth rate from the 1990s to the 2020s.

2. Explain TWO reasons for the trend shown in the graph using News, Issue and Glossary.

National Health Commission: China’s official health agency responsible for a variety of measures, including drafting laws for public health, reforming the country’s medical system, implementing plans for disease prevention and control and organising policies to address China’s ageing population

demographic crisis: when more people are dying than being born. This could lead to a country’s overall population shrinking and may pose a problem if there are many more elderly people than younger ones, as there might not be enough people to take care of them. It also means fewer people in the workforce.

societal norms: a shared standard of behaviour considered acceptable by a group. They can be informal understandings that govern the behaviour of members of a society or be written into rules and laws.

herd mentality: when people follow the actions, behaviours, or decisions of a group, often without thinking independently.

News

1. Chinese university students like Cao have busy schedules and face intense academic and extracurricular pressure, leaving them with little free time.

2. They face intense competition as economic growth slows. There are also fewer job prospects, and an undergraduate degree does not mean as much as it used to, so students are pressured to pursue master’s or even doctoral degrees to improve their employment prospects. (accept all reasonable answers)

3. I am weary of a university course on relationships. It is unclear what topics the subject would cover, and an extra course may increase students’ workloads or take away more of their free time – meaning it may make the problem of students not dating even worse.

Graphic

1. The artist is depicting two university students. They face a mountain of work and pressure, as shown through the piles of papers and books labelled “student leadership” and “job offers”. The broken hearts represent students’ desire not to pursue relationships as they struggle to balance their already busy schedules. (accept all reasonable answers)

2. Many young Chinese adults are too busy to pursue relationships, and more people are comfortable being single than in the past. (accept all reasonable answers)

Issue

1. D

2. China is still relatively conservative, so it is more accepted to see children born to married couples instead of single people.

3. Marriage rates are dropping because people are too busy to date and have become more comfortable staying single. Meanwhile, fewer people are having children, and one big reason is the cost. Raising a child is getting increasingly expensive, and many people simply cannot afford it. People are also more aware of the gender inequality that exists in parenting – with women still far more likely to take on more work – and it can be difficult to get childcare, meaning one of the parents would have to give up their job to stay home with their child. (accept all reasonable answers)

Graph

1. China’s birth rate fell between the 1990s and the 2020s. There was a slight uptick around the 2010s – around the time the government scrapped the one-child policy – but the rate has continued to fall ever since.

2. Society is more accepting of the “no marriage, no children” mindset. There was a strong herd mentality in the past – everyone was getting married, so people thought they had to as well. But now, young people find it too much of a hassle. Since it is still more accepted for children to be born to married parents rather than single people, a drop in the marriage rate means a drop in the birth rate as well. (accept all reasonable answers)