Sawt Falasteen - Chinese authorities play cash-giving Cupid to boost marriage rates

Zhang's home city of Luliang in northern Shanxi province is one of many places in China where local authorities are offering a slew of inducements to coax couples into tying the knot.

The 1,500-yuan ($205) reward the couple received is part of official efforts to boost the country's population, which fell for the third straight year in 2024.

The sum is half a month's average wage for Luliang's urban population -- and more than the monthly average wage for its rural citizens, according to official data.

"I think this policy is quite effective in improving the current marital and romantic situation," Zhang told AFP.

"When I mentioned this policy to my friends, they all thought it was great."

More generally, though, authorities are fighting a tide of reluctance from young people.

Last year marriages dropped by a fifth compared to 2023, data released Monday showed.

When it comes to having children, experts say that higher costs -- especially for education and childcare -- and the challenging employment market for recent graduates are among factors discouraging would-be parents.

When Luliang's cash incentive for marriage was announced online, many commented that the amount wouldn't be enough to justify the commitment.

The reward -- which has an age cut-off of 35 for women -- is just the flashiest part of the package.

The former mining city is also offering subsidies and medical insurance contributions for registering newborns.

Married couples in Luliang are given 2,000 yuan for their first registered child, 5,000 for their second and 8,000 for their third.

- Wedding rush? -

At a Luliang marriage registry office on Wednesday, a festival day, a steady stream of couples were taking advantage of the nuptial bounty, which kicked in on January 1.

The sound of an automatic money counter whirred persistently as lovebirds were handed stacks of fresh 100-yuan bills.

An official at the registry told AFP that since New Year's Day, their office alone had seen over 400 couples get marriage certificates.

At one point the office ran out of cash, said 36-year-old Wang Yanlong, who came to pick up his money this week after getting married in early January.

However, this apparent wedding rush might be deceptive.

"My colleague who was preparing to get married next year decided, because of this benefit, to do it this year," said 34-year-old newlywed Li Yingxing.

Zhang and Weng said they were planning to marry earlier but waited for the bonus, and a registrar in another Luliang district told AFP that many couples had done similarly.

- Few good men -

An advertisement for the 1,500-yuan reward sits among testimonies from happy clients in matchmaker Feng Yuping's office in Luliang.

Most of her clients are women, but the 48-year-old was pessimistic about the prospects of them finding a husband even with the new incentives.

"A man working at a state-owned enterprise might have a bachelor's degree, but he won't even look at a girl with a master's degree in the civil service," Feng said.

"There are still a lot of problems with men's attitudes towards marriage."

Feng said that often women are better educated, with a good job, but are rejected because of their age.

Some are turning off marriage altogether.

"Women now have their own stable income," Feng said. "They may be less interested in getting married. And there aren't many good men."

The result has been a decline in Luliang's population.

"The birth rate has dropped seriously," Feng said, citing examples of kindergartens closing because of lack of demand.

- Widespread incentives -

Luliang's predicament is common across China, with the ageing population a major preoccupation of Beijing.

The government released a report in October listing incentives similar to those in Luliang

Shangyou county in Jiangxi province has been giving out cash rewards for each family that has a second or third child, the report said.

Meanwhile, subsidies that can reach around 165,000 yuan for families with three children in Tianmen, Hubei province were credited by media with reversing a decline in birth rates last year -- though the data is still limited.

In Luliang, even those who said the new measures might encourage more couples to get hitched thought the perks were secondary to people's decision to marry or not.

"The cost of marriage for young people is indeed very high, and it is a factor," said Zhang.

"However, I believe that as long as young people are in love, they will inevitably walk down the aisle together."

G.AbuHamad--SF-PST