Chinese Women's Attitudes and Perspectives on the 2024 New Marriage Law and Drafts

Due to the continuous decline in marriage and birth rates, Chinese government proposed new marriage law and drafts in 2024 to address this issue. This paper investigates the attitudes and perspective of Chinese women on these 2024 marriage law and drafts, focusing on removing the hukou requirement, removing medical restrictions for marriage, and the divorce cooling-off period. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including surveys with 87 respondents and semi-structured interviews with 8 participants, to explore how these legal changes influence marriage decisions across different age groups and marital statuses. Results show that Chinese women generally view the new marriage law negative. Specifically, younger women, especially those under 18, strongly oppose the reforms, worrying about the impact on their future marriage choices. Women aged 18-34 show mixed views; those in stable relationships are cautiously optimistic, while older women aged 35 and up generally support the reforms for their potential to strengthen family stability. The findings highlight the importance of considering women's perspectives in shaping future marriage policies particularly in the context of declining marriage and fertility rates in China.