Beijing Stay-at-Home Moms Found Most Likely to Cheat

原创 Charles L. theBeijinger

For the 14th year in a row, China is on track to have its highest number of divorces ever, and the trend of saying "I don't" is being led by none other than our own city.

Beijing has the country's highest divorce rate this year at 39 percent, followed closely by other first-tier cities Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to a report released by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs that, coincidentally, are the same as 2016 statistics.

Divorce rates are calculated by dividing the number of divorces per year in a particular region by the annual average population of that area.

READ: Divorce in Cross-National Marriages: Who’s Deceiving Whom?

What's alarming about the report is that even though it only covers the first six months of 2017, this year's 1.85 million divorces have already exceeded last year's national total of 1.68 million with another half-year still to come, signifying a year-on-year increase of almost 11 percent already.

Beijing ranked fourth as the Chinese city with the highest divorce-to-marriage ratio, rated at 51 percent for its 78,465 marriages and 39,701 divorces.

Meanwhile, eastern neighbor Tianjin has China's highest divorce-to-marriage ratio, rated at 61 percent for its 28,575 divorces and 47,261 marriages, while Sichuan experienced a staggering 137,031 divorces from January to June this year. Back in 2014, Beijing had the most divorces in China at 56,000.

Even as the divorce rate has sharply climbed in China ever since reforms were passed in 2003, another noticeable trend is decreasing number of Chinese marriages nationwide. After the 2013 high of 7,079,916, Chinese marriages have steadily continued to fall, this year having dropped 8 percent from last year.

READ: Required to Buy the Most Expensive Betrothal Gifts in China, Beijing Men Are Simply Saying No

Compared to previous years in which some marriage experts blamed the high rate of divorce on social media, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has firmly named the leading cause of ruined marriages as infidelity. And, surprisingly, the report also reveals that the most at-risk vocations for cheating were IT workers for men and stay-at-home moms for women, rated at 19 percent.

If that seems surprising, AsiaOne (asiaone.com) tells us that "Sixty-seven percent of disloyal wives are housewives" who "stray in search of love and affection."

Other reasons for divorce include domestic violence, incompatible personalities, conflict with mothers-in-law, and bad habits/hobbies. Another reason given was "house buying," referring to the now-outlawed practice of "technical divorces" where married couples annul their vows just so they can be eligible for house-buying rights granted only to single adults.

Marital bliss is simply not guaranteed in Beijing where the average failed marriage doesn't survive the "seven-year itch," managing to last just five years. Nevertheless, dating shows remain immensely popular in China and, despite their threat to marriages across the city, IT remains an important field that Beijing wants to promote.

Images: WebMD.com

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