The marriage rate of 7.2 per thousand last year was the lowest in a decade, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the singles' population reached about 240 million, sparking debates online.

However, the declining marriage rate is not exclusive to China. Other countries, especially the developed ones, are also experiencing this phenomenon, with many attributing the declining marriage rate to social and economic development. In fact, the 2016 data of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development show that a majority of OECD member countries have a crude marriage rate of less than 6 per thousand.

Besides, according to a Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs study, 33 percent of men aged between 35 and 39, and 19 percent of women aged 35-39 in the Republic of Korea are unmarried. Which suggests the marriage rate in the ROK, too, is falling.

In China, Shanghai had the lowest marriage rate last year－only 4.35 per thousand. Among the other places with a low marriage rate were Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, and Beijing and Tianjin, which are also relatively well developed.

Other social trends including popularization of higher education, rising life expectancy and women's economic independence have also prompted many, women in particular, to delay marriage or to stay single. This is not surprising as for Chinese youths today, marriage is more of a choice than an obligation.

In China, marriage has been traditionally considered to be the most stable of social institutions. Until the recent past, getting married seemed a "normal" choice for a majority of Chinese adults, and people who either couldn't get married or chose to remain single faced overwhelming pressure from not only their families but also their friends and relatives to tie the knot. Moreover, as a universal social institution established to control and regulate human life, marriage is still directly related to childbearing. As a result, many regard marriage as an individual's obligation, as they believe it would contribute to the country's workforce and facilitate social harmony.

But today's youths, especially those with higher education, have a stronger sense of individual rights compared with the older generations, which believed more in collectivism.

True, an individual has the right to decide whether or not to enter into wedlock, and his or her choice should be respected, especially because the Marriage Law also prohibits interference with a person's choice when it comes to marriage. But marriage and consequently childbearing are of great significance to society, particularly for a country facing severe demographic problems such as an aging population and a low fertility rate.

Of course, many policymakers have tried to implement measures to raise the marriage rate. Some of the measures, however, have not yielded the expected results despite the best intentions. For instance, recently a few lawmakers suggested that the legal marriage age be lowered for both men and women by two years, in order to increase the marriage rate and the number of newborns. Immediately, the suggestion was opposed by many netizens, because they believe the policy will hardly benefit the youths and therefore cannot influence them to change their mind on whether to get married.

But why are fewer youths getting married and an increasing number delaying marriage? The answer seems obvious: because they voluntarily decide when to get married or whether to tie the knot at all, instead of succumbing to parents' pressure, as in the past.

Many media reports and surveys show the main reason why Chinese youths choose to stay single is they either encounter obstacles to marriage, or weigh the pros and cons of marriage and decide that entering into wedlock would restrict their freedom.

For example, the skyrocketing housing prices and ever-increasing living costs make it unaffordable for many men to get married. And since more and more women believe married women have to shoulder more responsibilities and make more sacrifices for the family than men, they are either reluctant or unwilling to give up their careers and financial independence in exchange for "endless housework and the pain of child raising".

Considering these problems, the policymakers should contemplate implementing certain policies, for example, to curb the rise in housing prices and provide child-raising subsidies to families, in order to encourage more marriage-age men and women to get married.

The author is a writer with China Daily.