MORE than 360 couples divorced after less than one year, which meant Shenzhen had about one married couple divorce every day this year, yesterday s Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
Most of the divorced couples were born after 1980 and married not long after they started dating, according to the city s marriage registration department.
A total of 1,983 couples had divorced in Futian District by the end of October this year, many more than in previous years. The district civil affairs authority was conducting a training session for newlyweds in Shatou Subdistrict on Monday.
The number of couples born after 1980 attending marriage consultations had also increased sharply over the past two years, said Wang Liufeng, a psychological consultant at Shenzhen Women s and Children s Psychological Health Service Center.
Some 70 percent of couples were seeing Wang about marriage issues. More than half were young couples.
A lack of family responsibility, forgiveness, patience and housework skills were the biggest problems for these young couples. Unlike older generations, they divorce easily... instead of trying to save the marriage, Wang said.
Divorce seems a pretty simple thing for them. Unlike older couples, most young couples are quite accepting when it comes to divorce, an unidentified staff member at the Futian District Marriage Registration Office told the newspaper.
Wang said young couples took marriage less seriously than older generations. Their marriage principles are based on whether they are suited to live together. If not, they separate immediately. Divorce is not a big deal for them, she said.
One example was a couple she met last week who had been thinking about divorce for a while because they had been fighting over an oil painting. The woman wanted to hang the picture on the wall, but her husband disagreed. She was so angry and wanted to leave him because she could not stand a husband who listened to her before they married then suddenly changed after they married. Most cases I handle are about small things. They are intolerant and divorce rather than working things out together, Wang said.
She suggested young couples communicate more in the marriage and work out ways to deal with problems. Marriage is not easy. It requires the wife and husband working together. Divorce should be the last resort for a couple.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
