Divorce Attorneys

Xu Yunying’s husband was paralyzed and bedridden for 16 years before he died, five years ago. After her initial grief, Xu was happy to resume her old routine of doing exercises in the morning sunshine with her neighbors, tending to her plants, and watching TV in the evening. Then, after a while, she began to feel lonely and miss her husband’s company, despite all the distress and difficulty his condition had caused. She does not, however, have any intention of remarrying.

There are many elderly widows like Xu Yunying in China who, despite straitened economic circumstances and changes in traditional marriage concepts, would never consider a second marriage. Their reasons are various. They don’t want to marry a man younger than them, but on the other hand, would worry about the state of health of an older man.

“I want no more emotional upheavals,” says Xu. “I can’t afford hired help at home, and neither do I want to spend the rest of my life looking after another man.” Since her husband’s death, therefore, Xu has not looked into the question of a second spouse, having decided to remain a widow.

The right to freedom of marriage has always been promoted and protected in China, and since the 1980s, with the increasing numbers of seniors, the issue of their second marriage has become a source of social concern. Clauses protecting elderly marriage partners have been added to the local laws of 22 provinces and municipalities.

In 2001, the revised Marriage Law stated clearly that marriage freedom must in no way be infringed upon. There are matrimonial agencies that specialize in senior citizens. The media also actively supports elder remarriage, and young people are aware that their parents have the freedom to marry again if they wish. This has resulted in a slight increase in the rate of remarriage within this age group.

According to research by Professor Hao Maishou from the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, in the mid 1990s it reached 7 percent and has continued to increase in recent years. Yet despite social concern and encouragement, it is still relatively low. According to a social survey, there are 1.3 million elder people in Tianjin, of whom 30.3 percent are widowed, yet only 10 percent have remarried.

Research carried out by Du Peng, deputy director of the Population Research Institute at the People’s University shows that most elderly women choose not to remarry. Some, like Xu Yunying, do not want to be tied down again, but in most cases the traditional concept of remaining loyal to the spouse prevails. Du Peng’s survey demonstrates that 50 percent of the senior population in Beijing believes traditional attitudes to be the major obstacle to their remarriage. Other deterrents are the opposition of children, and the knotty problem of property.