China

中國

In the past， it is disgraceful to get divorced or to remarry for the Chinese women. But according to a new survey， the value of the Chinese family is gradually changing. Based on the development of social service statistical bulletin in 2013， issued by the Chinese ministry of civil affairs， in 2013， there were altogether 3.5 million couples got divorced according to law throughout the country， an increase of 12.8% over the last year， which is a decade of increasing divorce rate since 2004. According to the census results， issued by the Hong Kong SAR government， 2012， in Hong Kong， the single rate of marriageable population was clearly increasing. In the marriageable age stage of people ranging in age from 20 to 49， according to the census of 2001， male single rate rose to 46.8% from 39.3%， the women’s single rate rose to 38.9%from 34.0%. In recent 30 years， Hong Kong’s divorce rate rises 10 times， ranking ninth in the world. According to Hong Kong economic daily reports， a survey of visiting 2000 households found only sixty percent of the respondent think marriage is necessary for life， 64% of respondents feel great pressure to rear children; 45% of incumbents think it is difficult to balance family and job， which is increased dramatically compared with 25% three years ago. In addition， 57% of respondents believe that， for a couple who can’t live in harmony and have no children， getting a divorce is the best solution. Based on this， Some Hong Kong scholars have pointed out that the family values of Hong Kong have been weakened in the “breakthrough point”.

過去，中國婦女離婚、改嫁被視為一件不光彩的事。但是新近的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國人的家庭價(jià)值觀正在逐漸發(fā)生改變。據(jù)中國民政部發(fā)布的2013年社會(huì)服務(wù)發(fā)展統(tǒng)計(jì)公報(bào)顯示，2013年全國依法辦理離婚手續(xù)的共有350萬對(duì)，比上年增長了12.8％，這是從2004年以來，中國離婚率連續(xù)10年遞增。根據(jù)香港特區(qū)政府2012年公布的人口普查結(jié)果，香港適婚人口的單身率出現(xiàn)明顯上升。在20歲至49歲這一適婚年齡階段，男性單身率由2001年普查時(shí)的39.3%上升至46.8%，女性單身率則由34.0%上升至38.9%。近30年來，香港的離婚率驟升10倍，高居全球第九位。據(jù)香港《經(jīng)濟(jì)日?qǐng)?bào)》報(bào)道，一項(xiàng)訪問了2，000個(gè)住戶的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，僅六成受訪者認(rèn)為婚姻對(duì)人生有必要；64%受訪者對(duì)養(yǎng)兒育女感到巨大壓力；45%在職者認(rèn)為家庭與工作間難以平衡，比3年前的25%大幅增加。另外，有57%的受訪者認(rèn)為，對(duì)于無法和諧共處而又沒有子女的夫妻，接受離婚是最佳的解決方法。有香港學(xué)者據(jù)此指出，香港的家庭價(jià)值已被削弱到了“臨界點(diǎn)”。

Chen Zhangming (A member of Hong Kong family council， and chairman of elderly commission) believes that more and more young people are not willing to marry in Hong Kong， reflecting that the family values of Hong Kong have become fragmented. He said， I believe more and more people choosing not to marry has great connection with developed science and technology， and change of the model of economic and lifestyle， etc. Developed science and technology， and stressing privacy and personal rights make people lack of communication. While most people think that main reason of divorce is “affair”， followed by economic or life stress.

Marriage and family counselor in Hong Kong catholic marriage advisory council Zheng Jingwen expresses that the young don’t know how to deal with conflict， when it comes to love， they only consider feel and have no idea of tolerance， patience， so it is difficult to maintain their relationship. Some youth bring this value into marriage， so their marriage is easier to rupture.

香港家庭議會(huì)成員、安老事務(wù)委員會(huì)主席陳章明認(rèn)為，香港年輕人不愿意結(jié)婚的個(gè)案愈來愈多，反映港人家庭價(jià)值已變得支離破碎。他表示，相信愈來愈多港人選擇不結(jié)婚，與科技發(fā)達(dá)、經(jīng)濟(jì)和生活模式改變等不無關(guān)系?？萍及l(fā)達(dá)，加上著重隱私等個(gè)人權(quán)益，令人與人之間缺乏溝通。而大部分人認(rèn)為離婚主因是“婚外情”，其次是經(jīng)濟(jì)或生活壓力。

香港公教婚姻輔導(dǎo)會(huì)婚姻及家庭輔導(dǎo)員鄭靜文表示，年輕人不太懂處理沖突，在愛情上只講感覺，但未懂包容、忍耐，所以關(guān)系難以維持，有的青年把此價(jià)值觀帶到婚姻中，婚姻關(guān)系亦較容易破裂。

South Korea

韓國

South Korea is a very conservative country， in the past， people treat divorce as a quite shameful thing， not only lose face of herself， but lose face of parents， so it is hard to consider a divorce even the couple have a bad relationship. But since about 20 years before， women have been beginning to catch up with men in all fields， the voice of rights protection is also more and more high， then， many people choose to get divorce under the auspices of women， resulting in South Korea once is of the highest divorce rate among OCED countries.

韓國是一個(gè)十分傳統(tǒng)保守的國家，以前人們一直把離婚看作是十分丟人的事情，不僅自己丟人，而且還給父母親丟人，所以即便是夫妻倆再不合也很難考慮離婚。但是從大約20多年前起，女性逐漸開始在各個(gè)領(lǐng)域趕超男性，維權(quán)的呼聲也是越來越高，于是在女權(quán)的主導(dǎo)下離婚開始大量出現(xiàn)，導(dǎo)致韓國曾經(jīng)一度是經(jīng)合組織成員國當(dāng)中離婚率最高的一個(gè)國家。

Today， it is no longer a secretive thing to get divorced; many believe that though it is not worth advocating imprudent divorce， to keep a hopeless marriage is inadvisable. But whatever getting divorce is a big scar of life， therefore， people still need to carefully treat it.

In recent years， South Korea’s family has present a new characteristic， that is the divorce rate is higher in the elderly. According to a statistical results issued by the recent South Korean courthouses， people to get married for more than 20 years account for first of all the divorced people. That is to say， there is one couple of dusk divorce in every four divorced couples. For various reasons， once bearing suffering’s wife would rather spend the last time with herself than stoop to compromise.

如今，離婚在韓國已經(jīng)不再是需要遮遮掩掩的事情了，很多人都認(rèn)為輕率的離婚雖然不值得提倡，但是死守一個(gè)病入膏肓的婚姻更是不可取的。但無論如何，離婚都是人生的一大傷痕，因此人們依然還是十分慎重的。

近年來，韓國家庭呈現(xiàn)一個(gè)新的特點(diǎn)，就是老年人離婚率走高。按照不久前韓國大法院發(fā)表的一個(gè)統(tǒng)計(jì)結(jié)果顯示，結(jié)婚20年以上的人的離婚占全體離婚的第一位，就是說，每四對(duì)離婚的夫妻當(dāng)中就有一對(duì)是黃昏離婚。由于各種原因曾經(jīng)忍氣吞聲一輩子的妻子寧愿在人生的最后時(shí)光自由快樂的自己度過，也不想再委曲求全。

America

美國

According to a research result by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center， in recent decades， American concepts of marriage and family is obviously changed， more and more people believe that a marriage contract is not necessary for a family， unmarried cohabitation is increasingly common. After the economic， social and political supporting marriage， the base of this kind of family pattern changes， the American marriage also inevitably evolved subsequently.

Adrew Cherlin， a scholar who studies social problems in The Johns Hopkins University noticed a phenomenon: teen-age pregnancy is very common in the United States; the proportion has been close to 40% of the total number of marriage. Most of them have College degree， live together and less than 20 years. Cherlin said， the happening of this phenomenon have close relationship with American society becoming more inclusive: people no longer regarded it as a kind of eccentric phenomenon， but take this as a personal choice， just like Americans value privacy. Melton said: “today， marriage is a paper certificate. Without this certificate， People can also have a good family life.”

根據(jù)美國皮尤研究中心的研究結(jié)果顯示，近幾十年來，美國人的婚姻和家庭觀念發(fā)生顯著變化，越來越多的人認(rèn)為一紙婚書并非組建家庭的必要條件，非婚同居現(xiàn)象愈發(fā)普遍。在經(jīng)濟(jì)、社會(huì)和政治等支撐婚姻這種家庭模式的基礎(chǔ)出現(xiàn)變化之后，美國人的婚姻觀也不可避免地隨之演變。

美國約翰·霍普金斯大學(xué)研究社會(huì)問題的學(xué)者安德魯·切林注意到一個(gè)現(xiàn)象：未婚先育的情況在美國的年輕情侶中十分普遍，其比例已經(jīng)接近結(jié)婚總?cè)藬?shù)的40%。這些人大多具有大學(xué)學(xué)歷，在一起同居，年齡在20歲上下。切林說，這種狀況的出現(xiàn)與美國社會(huì)正在變得更加包容有密切關(guān)系：人們不再認(rèn)為這是一種離經(jīng)叛道的現(xiàn)象，而把這看成是個(gè)人的選擇，就像美國人極為看重的隱私一樣。梅爾頓說:“如今的婚姻就是一紙證書。沒有這張證書，同樣能把家庭生活過好。”

Statistics results recently released by the United States census bureau also showed that， currently， in the age of 18 or above， the marriage rate was only 52%， to a record low. In 2010， the number of unmarried cohabitation in the United States was 13% high than 2009， reaching 7.5 million. The reason of the large number except for changing of people’s marriage and family values， but also largely affected by the economic situation. People are often reluctant to make long-term marriage commitments owing to bad economy and unemployment.

As more and more partners’ premarital pregnancy， the situation of new mothers is also changing. In the past， the unmarried woman is mainly the poor without going to any school， now， a growing number of college or high school， and community full-time university women are joining their ranks. In recent years， there appeared a new saying “the thirty-year inch” in the United States， many elderly people over the age of 60， even more than 80-year-old couples also joined the ranks of divorce.

美國人口普查局最近公布的統(tǒng)計(jì)結(jié)果也顯示，當(dāng)前18周歲及以上的美國人結(jié)婚率只有52%，為歷史最低點(diǎn)。2010年美國非婚同居人數(shù)比2009年大增13%，達(dá)到750萬。這一數(shù)字增幅如此之大除了和人們婚姻和家庭觀念的改變有關(guān)外，很大程度上也受到經(jīng)濟(jì)現(xiàn)狀的影響。由于經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣、失業(yè)問題嚴(yán)重，人們往往不愿作出長期的婚姻承諾。

隨著越來越多的伴侶未婚先育，初為人母的婦女的情況也在發(fā)生變化。以前，未婚先育的女方主要是沒有上過任何學(xué)校的窮人，現(xiàn)在，越來越多的具有高中、社區(qū)大學(xué)或全日制大學(xué)的女性正在加入她們的行列。近年來，美國還出現(xiàn)了“30年之癢”一說，即許多60歲以上的老年人，甚至80多歲的老夫老妻也加入了離婚行列。

France: unmarried cohabitation is common

法國：未婚同居成普遍現(xiàn)象

According to the research report published by the French parliament on January 27， 2006， compared with the Early Stage of World War， the French family’s value and concept are undergoing a revolutionary change. In just two generations， the people to get married is less， to get divorced is more， and to live together is more causal. In 1970， there were 400000 couples to get married， but in 2005， there were only 280000， reducing 30%. According to statistics， in 2005， on average， the first marriage age is deferred 6 years than 1970， the male is 30.9 year and the female is 28.8.

The report points out that the decrease of the number of marriage does not mean that French refuse to get married， but it points out that French treat marriage as a purely personal question increasingly. As a kind of social system， the status of marriage has fundamentally changed. Premarital cohabitation is no longer a choice for the minority of rash， rebellious young， but a common phenomenon of the whole society. In the early 70s of the last century， one sixth of the French couple live together first， then get married， now the proportion rose to nine over ten.

法國議會(huì)2006年1月27日公布的調(diào)研報(bào)告顯示，與二戰(zhàn)結(jié)束初期相比，法國人的家庭面貌和觀念發(fā)生了革命性的變化。短短兩代人的時(shí)間，法國人結(jié)婚的少了，離婚的多了，共同生活更隨便了。1970年法國有40萬對(duì)新人登記結(jié)婚，2005年只有28萬對(duì)，減了30％。根據(jù)2005年的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字，法國人的平均初婚年齡比1970年晚了6年，男性為30.9歲、女性28.8歲。

報(bào)告稱，婚姻數(shù)量減少并不意味著法國人拒絕婚姻，而是說明法國人越來越把結(jié)婚當(dāng)作純粹的個(gè)人問題。作為一種社會(huì)制度，婚姻的地位發(fā)生了根本變化?；榍巴硬辉偈巧贁?shù)輕率、反叛的年輕人的選擇，而是全社會(huì)的普遍現(xiàn)象。上個(gè)世紀(jì)70年代初，法國六分之一的新人先同居再結(jié)婚，如今這一比例上升到了十分之九。

Moreover， the number of divorce is increasing. Now in France， 42% of marriages end in divorce， greatly surpass 12% in the 70s. According to another statistics， the partners who started to live together from 1990， weather married or not， 15% of their relationship would not keep more than five years， and 30% after 10 years drifted apart.

Sociologist’s comment， the increase of the number of divorce does not mean that the French are irresponsible to marriage and partner， to some extent， this shows that the French are strict with mate， they don’t want to have a improvise marriage.

與此同時(shí)，法國人的離婚數(shù)量不斷增加。如今法國42％的婚姻以離異告終，大大高于上個(gè)世紀(jì)70年代初的12％。另據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì)，自1990年起開始共同生活的伴侶中，不論婚否，15％持續(xù)時(shí)間不超過5年，30％在10年后各奔東西。

社會(huì)學(xué)家對(duì)此的評(píng)論是，離婚數(shù)量增加并不意味著法國人對(duì)婚姻和伴侶不負(fù)責(zé)任，在某種程度上，這說明法國人對(duì)伴侶更加苛求，他們不愿意擁有湊合的婚姻。

Britain: marriage for 11 years would be a divorce season

英國：11年為離婚高發(fā)期

In recent years， it seems that the traditional-minded British also overturned the past outlook of marriage and value. The divorce rate is high， and the number of marriages are keep lowing. It seems that people are generally lost confidence in marriage. The UK national bureau of statistics data show that in 2005， it is about 155，000 couples got divorce in Britain， although dropped 7% compared with 2004， but this number still account for 50% of the number of married in the same year.

According to a survey， the average age of the men getting divorced is around 43 years old， female is 40 years old. It is a period of high incidence of divorce when the marriage keeps eleven and a half year .And the highest divorce rate in the successful women， with the constant improvement of the income and status; they are no longer satisfied with trivial family life， but looking forward to an independent life.

一貫注重傳統(tǒng)的英國人近幾年似乎也顛覆了以往的婚姻觀和價(jià)值觀，離婚率居高不下，而結(jié)婚人數(shù)卻一直走低，人們似乎普遍失去了對(duì)婚姻的信心。英國國家統(tǒng)計(jì)局的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2005年英國大約有15.5萬對(duì)夫婦離婚，雖然與2004年相比下降了7個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，但這個(gè)數(shù)字仍然占到同年結(jié)婚人數(shù)的50％。

據(jù)一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，男性離婚的平均年齡在43歲左右，女性為40歲?；橐龀掷m(xù)到11年半左右是離婚的高發(fā)時(shí)期。而成功女性中的離婚率最高，隨著收入和地位的不斷提高，她們不再滿足于瑣碎的家庭生活，期待一種獨(dú)立的生活。

In addition， some celebrity family marriage breakdown and the media excessive publicity also have a great influence to the society. When seeing the end of a marriage， people will naturally think of their marriage， and think the same thing will happen on their own.

What’s more worrying is that， in England， there are some who suffers from divorce syndrome. In 155，000 couples divorced in 2005， nearly twenty percent of the people are not the first time to get divorced. After a failed marriage， their second， even third marriage is often not happy.

此外，一些名人家庭的婚姻破裂和媒體的過分宣傳也給整個(gè)社會(huì)造成了很大的影響。當(dāng)人們看到一段婚姻的結(jié)束，自然而然會(huì)聯(lián)想到自己的婚姻生活，覺得同樣的事情也會(huì)發(fā)生在自己的身上。

更令人擔(dān)心的是，在英國有一部分人還患上了離婚綜合癥。2005年離婚的15.5萬對(duì)夫婦中，有近兩成的人已經(jīng)不是第一次離婚了。在經(jīng)歷了一次失敗的婚姻后，他們第二次，甚至第三次婚姻往往也是不幸福的。