China’s economy is facing a downturn, with the unemployment rate soaring and many young people choosing to “lie flat,” avoiding marriage and childbirth. Following a decrease in the number of marriages to a new low in 45 years in 2024, the number of marriages in the first quarter of this year has once again declined. Recently, the news of “many places announcing financial incentives for marriage” has become a hot topic of public opinion.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media, on April 15, Longguinanling Village in Baiyun District, Guangzhou issued the “Implementation Plan for First Marriage Incentives (Trial),” stipulating that first-time married couples where both or one party is a registered shareholder of the village can receive a maximum reward of 40,000 yuan.
In March of this year, the Zhejiang Provincial Government Office issued a notice on “Several Measures to Improve the Support Policy System for Childbirth,” encouraging qualified regions to provide marriage red envelopes, vouchers, and other incentives to eligible marriage registrants.
Some areas in Zhejiang have previously introduced measures to incentivize marriage. For example, in April 2023, Shaoxing’s Shangyu District launched 13 measures to optimize childbirth policies, including providing a 1,000 yuan gift package to each couple who registered marriage in the area. In August of the same year, Changshan County, Quzhou City announced a 1,000 yuan reward for first-time registered marriages in the locality where the woman is 25 years old or below (at least one party is a registered Changshan resident).
Starting from January 1, Lvliang City in Shanxi Province provides a 1,500 yuan reward to couples where both are marrying for the first time and the woman is 35 years old or below. The marriage reward funds are distributed on-site in the form of cash red envelopes at the registration window.
On April 26, the topic labeled “many places announce financial incentives for marriage” trended on hot searches.
Internet users commented, “The attraction of ‘thousands’ is just too small, no one cares about these tens of thousands now, it doesn’t solve the problem fundamentally, so it’s not very effective.” “If marriage needs to rely on encouragement and incentives, I don’t believe authorities are unaware of the reasons behind it! Addressing the root causes is essential in addition to treating the symptoms.”
“Free education for children, completely free universal healthcare, and the government taking responsibility for individual retirement issues! Will these be effective? Solving any one of these could have a decisive effect! Offering someone a sweet date and expecting them to deliver an ox or horse is unrealistic.” “Lowering housing prices and increasing incomes are essential to ease marriage and childbirth anxieties.”
“I remember when we were young, we often heard about cases where a wife was forced to have an abortion for her second child, or a family had their house demolished for having a second child; or women of childbearing age were forcefully sterilized. Now, despite all the encouragement to have children, no one is having any.” “Seeing the current rush to get married and have children, I recall the scenes of chasing after family planning back in the day. Fines and punishments for unauthorized births, demolishing houses, penalties. Time changes, such a great irony!”
According to the statistics released on April 25 by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs on the first quarter of 2025, there were 1.81 million registered marriages nationwide, compared with 630,000 registered divorces. The number of marriage registrations in the first quarter of this year further declined compared to the same period in 2024.
In the first quarter of 2024, there were 1.969 million registered marriages nationwide and 573,000 registered divorces. Comparatively, the number of marriage registrations decreased by 159,000 pairs in the first quarter of this year, while the number of divorce registrations increased by 57,000 pairs.
Looking at the annual statistical data, as reported by The Paper earlier, the total number of marriage registrations nationwide fell to 6.106 million pairs in 2024, a 20.5% decrease from the previous year, marking the largest drop since records began in 1978.