Hunan Provincial Health Commission Responds to "Reducing the Legal Age of Marriage": Actively Pay Attention to Related Trends in the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China | Age of Marriage | Age of Marriage

In recent years, there have been discussions about whether the legal age for marriage should be lowered.

Recently, the Hunan Provincial Health Commission responded to a suggestion from a member of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference to lower the age of marriage, stating:

"Regarding reducing the age of marriage, we have noticed that some members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are also providing suggestions and suggestions to the country. We will actively monitor relevant trends and timely implement the latest policy requirements of relevant national departments."

Multiple committee members propose support policies for childbirth

On July 11th, the official website of the Hunan Provincial Health Commission released a response to Han Feng's "Improving and Implementing Maternity Support Policies and Supporting Measures" at the first meeting of the 13th Provincial Political Consultative Conference.

According to the response, Hunan Province, as the 7th most populous province in China, has experienced both aging and declining birth rates in the past decade. The birth rate in 2022 was 412000, marking the second consecutive year of negative growth.

At the same time, Liang Xiangdong, a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also put forward a proposal at the meeting to improve the implementation of fertility support policies and supporting measures.

According to the response, the proposals made by the members of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference involve: housing subsidy policies, extending maternity and parental leave, providing reliable and affordable childcare services, providing educational security, repositioning and promoting the birth policy, promoting simple marriage, and lowering the age of marriage.

The original response of the Hunan Provincial Health Commission to its suggestion on reducing the age of marriage is as follows:

According to Article 1047 of the Civil Code, the age of marriage for men shall not be earlier than 22 years old, and for women shall not be earlier than 20 years old. Regarding reducing the age of marriage, we have noticed that some members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are also providing suggestions and suggestions to the country. We will actively monitor relevant trends and timely implement the latest policy requirements of relevant national departments.

At the same time, it is stated that the next step will be to collaborate with relevant departments, closely focus on optimizing the birth policy, promoting long-term balanced population development, adhere to filling gaps, increasing supply, and improving quality, improve supporting measures for the three child birth policy, and effectively reduce the burden of family childbirth, parenting, and education.

Maintain the current legal age of marriage

Similar proposals to lower the legal age for marriage have already appeared in various parts of the country.

In April last year, the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission replied in a letter regarding Proposal No. 770 of the Fifth Session of the 13th People's Congress of Sichuan Province, stating that "the legal age for marriage in China is uniformly stipulated by the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. Currently, according to Article 1047 of the Civil Code, the age for marriage cannot be earlier than 22 years old for men and 20 years old for women. Your suggestion belongs to a major adjustment of the marriage system, which needs to consider multiple factors and impacts. It is advisable to make decisions after thorough investigation, research, and scientific evaluation. The Ministry of Civil Affairs will actively cooperate with legislative departments such as the National People's Congress and the judiciary to actively promote relevant work and make suggestions to relevant national departments."

The Department of Social Affairs of the Ministry of Civil Affairs also emphasized in April last year in response to the suggestion to advance the marriage age for adult males and females, "According to Article 1047 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the marriage age for males shall not be earlier than 22 years old and females shall not be earlier than 20 years old."

In fact, during the revision of the draft Marriage and Family Code of the Civil Code, there was already a discussion on whether to adjust the legal age for marriage.

According to the "Procuratorial Daily" report, on the afternoon of October 21, 2019, the 14th meeting of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee reviewed the draft of the Civil Code on marriage and family in the third instance, which still adopts the current regulations that "men cannot be married earlier than 22 years old and women cannot be married earlier than 20 years old".

During the second trial of the draft of the Marriage and Family Code of the Civil Code in June 2019, some members suggested reducing the legal age of marriage appropriately, and as conditions changed, there was no need to make a distinction between men and women in terms of age of marriage. However, some opinions suggest that the legal age for marriage should be maintained according to the current regulations.

After studying with relevant parties such as the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Justice, the Constitutional and Legal Committee believes that the current regulations on the legal age of marriage have been well known and recognized by the general public. If modified, it would be a major adjustment to the marriage system, and it is advisable to conduct sufficient investigation, research, and scientific analysis and evaluation before making any further provisions.

Based on this, the third review draft did not make any adjustments to the legal age of marriage and still maintains the current policy of "men cannot be earlier than 22 years old and women cannot be earlier than 20 years old".

Expert: The legal age for marriage in China is relatively old

However, against the backdrop of a gradual decline in China's fertility rate and a continuous decrease in the birth rate, suggestions to lower the legal age for marriage still occasionally appear.

In 2019, a professor from a law school at a certain university pointed out that the legal age of marriage for men should not be earlier than 22 years old and for women not earlier than 20 years old, which is still too high and should be appropriately lowered. He suggested that the age of marriage should not be earlier than 20 years old for men and 18 years old for women.

In 2021, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) stated that the current legal age of marriage is designed based on the previous family planning system and the concept of late marriage and childbirth, and is a "means to control population growth". They also proposed to revise Article 1047 of the Civil Code during the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to set the age of marriage as "marriage age, not earlier than 18 years old."

According to media reports, in March of this year, an economist posted a proposal to lower the legal age of marriage to 18, sparking social discussion and controversy. The scholar stated that the legal age for marriage in China is 22 years for males and 20 years for females, 18 years for males and 16 years for females in Japan, 18 years for males and 18 years for females in the United States, 21 years for males and 18 years for females in India, and 18 years for males and females in Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, and other countries. This indicates that the legal age for marriage in China is relatively large, which affects a series of issues such as marriage and childbirth among young people.

He stated that the extremely low birth rate and rapid decline in the young population have become major challenges facing Chinese society. To increase the birth rate, government departments need to introduce relevant policies and measures to encourage young people to get married and have children, and actively introduce relevant policies to reduce the cost of getting married and having children for young people.

In addition, all sectors of society also need to guide young people to establish a positive view of marriage and love, jointly care about the marriage issues of eligible individuals, actively create favorable conditions, and help more single young people enter marriage and establish families.

However, some viewpoints point out that young people who have just reached adulthood may not have a stable source of income and may not be able to shoulder the responsibility of marriage; At the same time, reducing the legal age of marriage will mean lowering the legal age of childbirth, and they may not be able to shoulder the responsibility of raising their children.

Early childbirth will involve the supply of resources such as healthcare, insurance, housing, and education. Whether the whole society has done a good job in ensuring the short-term peak of childbirth caused by the decrease in the age of childbirth also requires an answer.

Meanwhile, experts have pointed out that young people's marriage and childbirth are being postponed. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriage registrations in China last year was 6.833 million, setting a new historical low since the Ministry of Civil Affairs released marriage data in 1986.

In February of this year, several provinces released big data on marriage registration for 2022. In addition to the declining trend of marriage registration in recent years, the average age of marriage registration in many regions exceeds 30 years old, and the average age of first marriage in various regions is also close to or above 30 years old.

Do you think the legal age of marriage should be lowered?

Source: CCTV News, Hunan Provincial Health Commission official website, Guangming Daily, Red Star News