Travellor's Space

Asian women no longer see marriage as their long- term plan

(世界公民College)

婚姻，在現代社會中，重要性已從曾經的必經過程轉變成現在的可有可無；因為教育程度的提升、女性獨立意識抬頭、社會結構的變遷，婚姻似乎不再是第一順位。在英文裡，「結婚」這個詞有許多不同的說法，大家一起來看看：

1. Getting married：最常用到的說法。
2. Hitched：常看到的口語。
3. Tie the knot：字面上是打個結，有永結同心的用意，可用這個詞來代表結婚。
4. Walk down the aisle：走紅毯。西方國家通常是父親牽著女兒走向紅毯的另一端，再把手交給新郎，所以它也可以直接當作結婚用。
5. Take the plunge：說明要大膽嘗試某件事，在這裡也可當作結婚，因為婚姻是人生中的大事，需要很大的勇氣，大膽放手一搏！

According to a recent article in the Economist marriage rates are dropping in various Asian countries, especially Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. It indicates that marriage rates are falling partly because people are postponing getting hitched. Although marriage ages have risen all over the world, but the increase is particularly marked in Asia.

根據經濟學人的一篇報導，亞洲許多國家的結婚率正在降低中，特別是在日本、台灣、南韓和香港。報導中指出，結婚率不停降低，有一部分是因為人們對於結婚年齡的延遲。雖然全世界的結婚年齡越來越大，但主要還是發生在亞洲地區。

According to CNN International, the proportion of unmarried 30-somethings in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong has swollen 20 percent or more in just 30 years.

CNN報導中也指出，在過去三十年，日本、台灣、新加坡和香港，三十歲還未婚的比例膨脹了20%。

In the past few decades, average marriage age has reached 29-30 for women and 31-33 for men.

過去幾十年人們平均的結婚年齡，女人已高達29～30歲，男人是31～33歲。

In Taiwan, an astonishing 37 percent of all women aged 30 to 34 were single in 2010. Around 20 percent of Taiwanese females aged 35 to 39 are single.

驚人的是，在2010年，有37%介於30~34歲、20%在35~39歲之間的台灣女性仍然單身。

From the cover story of the Economist talking about the decline of Asian marriage, “it attributes the delay by East Asian women in getting married, or not getting married at all, to two main causes. One is that more and more are going on to third level education and that on its own will mean delaying marriage.”

在經濟學人一篇關於亞洲結婚率下降的封面故事中提到，主要有兩個原因讓東亞女性晚婚或根本不想結婚，其中一個是教育程度的提高—更多人追求更高一層的學歷。

Another reason may be that females are expected to be the main caretaker for families. They not only have to look after their children, but also their parents and in-laws. As we can see around us, especially in Taipei, women are also expected to work and be the supermoms at the same time.

另一個原因可能歸咎於女性始終是家中主要照顧者的角色，他們不僅要照顧小孩，還要照顧上一代和夫家，在我們身邊可以見得，尤其是在台北這樣的大都市中，職業婦女必須兼顧全家大小。

Furthermore, people in their twenties and early thirties are now regarded as the time to maximize personal freedom which means putting off the commitments and responsibilities.

大家現在視20幾到30出頭這段年紀為個人自由的最佳時間，也就是避免承諾和責任。