Intellectuals with higher education including PhDs and M.A.s are more likely to marry than what is widely talked about among the general public, according to a sample survey made public Wednesday.
The survey, published by Wednesday's China Youth Daily, was carried out among 1,300 people, aged between 18 and 35, who have bachelor's degrees and higher. Many work at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and some schools of higher learning as well as at foreign-funded businesses in Beijing.
According to the survey, 88 percent of the respondents said that they want to get married and 96 percent regarded marriage as a very important part of life.
As far as the reason for marriage, 59 percent put love first. A staggering 99.8 percent of surveyed female M.A.s surveyed said they did not want to remain single.
The survey shows that 76.6 percent of the respondents opposed extramarital love affairs, 4.3 percent said they did not understand why such things happen and 19.1 percent said extramarital love affairs are understandable. But none of the surveyed agreed to extramarital affairs.
The divorce rate among the surveyed is only 1.3 percent, much lower than for other groups of young people.
According to the survey, 93 percent of the respondents want to have children to form integrated families. Many thought children brought happiness and love to family life.
(People?s Daily May 8, 2002)
