Senior Singles Turn To Marriage Agency

Senior widows and widowers in China have usually never remarried. Social norms would not allow remarriage as it would be considered improper or even an embarrassment. But now the tide has changed and what was improper is no longer.

Eight years ago when he was tired from the retired life, he started a marriage agency. What he noticed during his eight years of business reflected the national statistics: senior citizens were increasingly answering the matrimonial advertisements making up 60 percent of the total. To his surprise, the total number of the group takes 60% of all.

In Xie’s memory, senior couples usually slept in separate in China, especially in rural areas. If they lost their spouse and found another partner, they would face intense pressure from the community and family. Nowadays Xie seldom hears a voice objecting the remarriage of the seniors.

On the contrary, many seniors have no scruples about putting in a matrimonial ad with matchmakers. Sometimes their adult children advise their widowed parents to remarry. In the last few years, Xie matched about 180 couples annually.

Changes happen in young marriage seekers’ favoritisms, too, says Xie Bifeng. Most of single women wanted to marry governors, military men, and Chinese living overseas. With China’s Opening-Up Policy in 1978, women favored salespersons in state-owned companies, and later entrepreneurs. But now girls often come in and ask: Any public servants, military officers available? More and more women are taking the initiative for dating, too, Xie says.

Source: Shantou City post