Over 70% of Single Women Happily Unmarried

Over 70 percent of single women in Japan are satisfied with their lives, according to a nationwide questionnaire survey on marriage that was conducted in February 2005 by Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan's largest daily newspapers.

To the question, 'Do you agree that women can spend their lives happily without getting married?' 69 percent of unmarried respondents agreed. This exceeds the 50 percent of married people who answered yes to this question. Of single respondents, 73 percent women agreed, up 10 percentage points from the previous survey in 2003, and 67 percent of men agreed. Broken down by age bracket, 74 percent of respondents in their 20s, 66 percent in their 30s, and 58 percent in their 40s agreed that women can be happy without marrying.

To the question 'Do you think that the increasing tendency to marry later in life is a major social concern?' 58 percent of the respondents agreed, exceeding the 40 percent of respondents who disagreed. Multiple answers were allowed with respect to background factors bearing on late marriage; the top two reasons chosen by respondents were; 'An increased number of women participate in society' (67 percent), and 'Fewer people place importance on the concept of marriageable age' (52 percent).

These results show that single women tend to think positively about staying unmarried or marrying later. This is thought to be one of the factors behind a growing tendency to put off marriage. Many also think that this trend toward late marriage is contributing to the decline in the birthrate



Posted: 2005/06/07 10:51:12 AM
Japanese version