Chinese women prefer men who own house

BEIJING - Chinese bachelors who can’t afford a house are unable to find their soulmates as women increasingly prefer men who own one.

Even with subsidies and special government policies, home prices in China’s first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are riding the wave of a rising trend along with the fast growing economy, the China Daily reported Thursday

In the new “common sense” of China, housing issue trumps marriage, becoming a major obstacle for young men to start a family.

According to a survey jointly conducted by the China Association of Marriage and Family Studies, the Committee of Matchmaking Service Industries and China’s leading marriage service provider Baihe.com, about 70 percent of women interviewed said that housing, stable income and some savings were the main requirements for marriage.

As per the report, even the few “feminine extremists” believe an apartment is the standard of judgment in whether the male can be responsible and provide for his family.

Personality and morals lay beyond the top three matrimonial requirements. Some women and their families hold the traditional position and take it for granted that the home issue should be the male responsibility for marriage, which defies the contemporary independent spirit of women and gender equality, which are universal values.

The distorted value of marriage in China reflects the fact that many women consider marriage as another form of “social welfare”.