1 in 4 singles in 30s not willing to marry: survey

3 comments

1. Just wait until they touch a boob!

2. Great we have identified a problem, is there a solution? Marriage benefits or tax benefits, affordable housing or lower loans for couples, affordable child care and facilities?

   This news has been spinning in Japan for 30 years, we know the problem, start putting out ideas to fix.

3. I can’t really blame them. Marriage can be a pretty raw deal for women in Japan (cultural expectations around domestic labor, fewer career opportunities after marriage, and especially after childbirth). For men, salary and work expectations don’t exactly foster close, intimate relationships with a spouse, and undersocialization leads to difficulty forming relationships in the first place.

   I don’t see a lot of benefits to marriage in Japanese society from the perspective of most young, single people. All these issues are things that can be changed though, and Japan is at least offering lip service to recognize that, but the older population grew up in a completely different world and are still enforcing those norms in a society that doesn’t operate that way anymore.

   I can see change happening with more equality in careers after marriage and children, and more equality generally around household and domestic work. Additionally, Japan HAS to do something about hours spent outside the home for work. Anecdotally, I know a few Japanese couples whose marriages vastly improved when they moved overseas. They had more children than they would have had in Japan, and function better as a couple. (to be fair, remote work also played a small role in some of these cases).