In Japan, one in 4 singles in their 30s doesn't want to get married due to loss of freedom, housework, and job insecurity: survey
- In Japan, one in four singles in their 30s is unwilling to get married, a government survey found.
- Women and men have different reasons for not wanting to get married.
In Japan, one in four singles in their 30s is unwilling to get married, a government survey found.
Japan's Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office released the survey findings in a white paper published on June 14. The survey gathered responses from 20,000 people, ranging from those in their 20s to those in their 60s, in December and January.
While the percentage of women and men in their 30s who say they have no intention of getting married is similar at 25.4% and 26.5% respectively, their reasons for not tying the knot are different.
The majority of surveyed women who said they don't want to get married said they feel they have to shoulder the responsibility of housework, childcare, and long-term care of their partners when married, the survey found.
The study found that women are also resistant to marriage due to the trouble of changing their last names. Under Japan's civil code and family register law, families have to have a single surname — and it's usually the wives who have to change their last names.
The surveyed single Japanese men, on the other hand, said they were unwilling to marry because they desired freedom or lacked financial power and job security to support married life.
In addition, 36.2% of men between the ages of 20 and 39 said they simply had not met someone they liked enough to marry. This could be because they've never dated: Researchers conducting the survey found that roughly 35% of unmarried Japanese men in their 30s have never been on a date.
In Asian countries, people rarely have children outside of marriage. And Japan's already low birth rate is expected to fall further as more people are unwilling to marry. Experts are warning that together with the country's declining population, Japan may have to brace itself for labor shortages and long-term economic problems in the future as birth rates continue to fall.