MACAU (UCAN): In June, the Macau Post Daily reported that according to a survey by the Women’s General Association of Macau young people between the ages of 18 and 34-years-old say they have no plans to get married within five years.
Wong Kit Cheng, a member of the women’s association, said that the survey organised in April this year collected responses from 925 respondents thus “analysing their actual situation and their views on marriage and childbearing.”
According to the survey, the three major factors affecting young people’s decision to marry were financial considerations [49 per cent], compatibility with their partners [25 per cent], and the individual outlook towards marriage and career [19 per cent].
The survey analysed how the income levels of the youth affect their attitude toward marriage and childbirth.
The survey revealed that 68 per cent of individuals earning above 40,000 Patacas [US$4,982] and 55 percent of those earning below 11,999 Patacas [US$1,490] “were less determined to get married.”
Meanwhile, 38 per cent of respondents between the income group of 20,000 to 39,999 patacas [US$2,489 to US$4,978] said that they were more determined to get married.
“High-income and low-income respondents showed a relatively low desire to get married, while the middle-income respondents showed a higher desire to tie the knot,” Wong explained, adding that the survey indicated a “change in the concept,” of marriage and childbearing among the youth.
Wong warned that this change in attitude may “further aggravate the decline in Macau’s marriage and childbearing rate in the future,” resulting in a negative impact on the sustainable development of civil society.
The survey, which was the third of its kind conducted by the women’s association, also measured the average fertility intentions, which indicates a person’s desire to have children and pursue childbirth.
The average individual fertility intention this year was reported at 4.76 on a scale of 10. Previous surveys indicated that the fertility intention was at 6.33 in 2022, and 4.35 in 2019.
The fertility intentions score based on age groups indicated that as the age decreased the desire to marry and have children also decreased.
The number of live births in 2023 showed a sharp decline of 14.5 per cent year-on-year to 3,712 births, the Macau government’s Statistics and Census Service said.
Macau’s population had shown a negligible increase of 0.1 per cent at the end of 2023 with 571,200 residents.
The survey also analysed the number of children the respondents were willing to have through a set of multiple-choice questions, the Macau Post Daily reported.
Close to 70 per cent of the respondents with only one child said that they did not consider having any more children in the future, whereas only 20 per cent said that they have plans to have another child or are already pregnant.
Among the respondents who had two children, 90 per cent said they have “no desire to have three children.”
The survey also analysed the various factors that affected the decision among youth to not have any more children.
Of the respondents, 75 per cent cited “high childcare expenses,” as a reason to have no further children. This was followed by “insufficient living space,” at 73 per cent and “busy work schedule and insufficient time to take care of them,” at 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, childless couples cited “busy work schedule and insufficient time to take care of them,” “high childcare expenses,” and “the pressure and burden caused by the problems of child-rearing,” respectively as reasons for not having children.
Among the childless respondents, 56 per cent said that having children would affect their private life or their “personal time,” while 50 per cent said they considered parenthood a “big responsibility,” Wong said.
