A Shanghai match-making website revealed the results of a recent survey on more than 200 young people whose monthly income is about 4,500 yuan (US $643). The survey explored the reasons for such people to remain single. About 56 percent of the people surveyed said they would rather remain single until they had found someone they desired. About half said that they would only get married after they had purchased a place to live.

More than Half Surveyed Prefer Better than Many

Mr. Wang works at a prestigious national bank. He is in his 30s. Wang met three single girls through match-making but he wasn't satisfied with any of them. His reasons in turning them down were different: The first girl was too ambitious; the second too frivolous; the third girl too quiet. Many single white collars are as picky as him. The survey indicates that 56 percent of singles are such people. 39 percent of people remain single because they are busy working and lack spare time. Only 5 percent of people remain single because they "enjoy their single life and prefer freedom to a relationship."

A marriage counselor said that most targets had been in a relationship. (73 percent of targets claimed they had previous experience.) Young people focused more on the overall qualities of a person, when looking for a life-long partner. They cared for inner traits, personalities, concept of values, and appearance.

48 Percent Want to Try Love at Workplace

The main channel for young people to find their future spouse, which accounts for 46 percent, is their own social circle. Young people would also seek help from social networking platforms or related service institutions, accounting for 37 percent. Their last choice, which accounts for 17 percent, is for parents or relatives to do the match-making.

The survey indicates that young white collars are bold in love. Most of them agree with the idea "to court if you like him or her." About the issue of "love in the office," 48 percent of people thought they would pursue such a relationship, if they found someone they like in the office. 19 percent of people thought they would treat the relationship with caution because of work and 33 percent of people thought they would not date someone from work.

The survey showed that the ideal husband is honest and ambitious. An ideal wife is gentle and reasonable.

Half of Young People Consider Marriage after Buying a House

When it comes to the relations between "marriage and housing," about half of the targets (48 percent) thought housing was the guarantee for life. They would only get married after they had purchased a place of residence. 29 percent of people said they would work together with their spouse to pay the housing loan. Only 23 percent of people thought they could rent a place and get married, for love was the most important aspect.

White collars have different opinions on whether they would live together with their parents. 47 percent of people thought they could live with the parents. 28 percent of people thought parents could visit and live for a short period occasionally. And 25 percent of people wished they could enjoy a world with just them and their spouse as much as possible.

Mr. Tan from the website, which had conducted the survey, revealed that the traditional concept of family, where the male dominates, is changing. More than 62 percent of men could accept a marriage, in which the wife was more excellent than the husband, while 55 percent of men said they could live with the wife's family if they had enough room for him.

Expert: Independent but a Bit Vulnerable

Gu Xiaoming, a professor from Fudan University, said that the white collars nowadays are more independent than before, but vulnerable. "The housing is too expensive. They feel vulnerable because of house prices, so they hope they can secure a place of residence before marriage."

Gu also said that we should understand why young couples want to purchase a place of residence before marriage. It is quite different from the idea of "marriage depending on wealth." If the young couple rents a house, they could not arrange the place as they like. In addition, they may have to move whenever the house owner has other plans for the place.

(Source: Shanghai Youth/Translated by womenofchina.cn)