关键词: 结婚年龄推迟, 普遍结婚, 欧洲婚姻模式

Abstract: Age at first marriage in China has been greatly delayed, but the proportion of population who stay lifetime single is still at a very low level, which is significantly different from the pattern of European marriage. The Chinese society attaches importance to the intergenerational obligation relationship in the family, and the social policies do their best to maintain the specific and exclusive gain from marriage, which strengthen the marriage value and help to maintain the universal marriage. However, in modern societies with intensive social mobility, people's values become more diverse. Conflict between consumerism culture and traditional concepts of marriage, family, and fertility affects people's choice of life style, which increases the risk of making non-marriage choices. In a period of economic slowdown and transformation, it is more difficult for individuals to find a suitable spouse in the marriage market, and thus more likely to choose not to marry. To analyze and predict the trend of marriage pattern in China, we must understand the process of individual marriage decision, especially the difference between universal marriage pattern and non-universal marriage pattern.

Keywords: Marriage Delay, Universal Marriage, European Marriage Pattern