By John Salak –
Birth rates are falling worldwide for a variety of social, economic and physical reasons. In some countries, such as China and Russia, these declines have even resulted in actual decreases in national populations, with China’s misguided marriage proposal failing to reverse the trend.
These trends aren’t just curious. Declining populations and birth rates threaten to put enormous strains on many countries, including the United States. Going forward, these birth rate shifts may result in smaller national populations of younger people being forced to take care of larger groups of mature adults. WellWell, in fact, recently underscored the complicated issues and challenges tied to fertility rates in an interview with Davina Fankhauser of Fertility Within Reach.
Fankhauser’s work is impressive, but it takes an entirely different approach to at least one Chinese company. The Shuntian Chemical Group recently said, “No it really threatened, single employees that if they weren’t married by September 30 they would lose their jobs.”
The company wasn’t interested in promoting romance, but rather children. It informed its more than 1,200 employees in January that any unmarried workers aged between 28 and 58, including those who are divorced, had to “resolve your personal marriage issues” by the deadline or they could kiss their jobs away.
It even provided quarterly guidelines for getting in a family way.
“If not completed (a single employee getting married) by the first quarter, you must write a self-reflection,” Shuntian warned. “If not completed by the second quarter, the company will conduct an evaluation,” it added.
Finally, it laid out the consequences. “If you cannot get married and establish a family by the third quarter, the company will terminate your labor contract,” it announced. “Please take note.”
The company’s focus on getting people married certainly falls in line with the Chinese government’s push to have younger people get married and start families to offset its declining birth rates. Government data shows the government’s push to date has been less than effective as new marriages in China fell by 20 percent in 2024—a record drop—while China’s population fell in 2024 for the third consecutive year to 1.408 billion.
Shuntian noted this crunch in its threats by stating failing to get married meant single employees were “not responding to the national call while they were also “being disloyal and disobedient to parental advice.”
But don’t let it be said that the Chinese government doesn’t have a heart when it comes to forced or strongly encouraged marriages. In a possible response to a social media backlash against Shuntian’s threats, government officials visited the company and instructed it to chill on its employment threats. Apparently, the policy violated Chinese labor law.
The company responded by immediately withdrawing its marriage-or-else policy, noting in response to a reporter’s questions that it was tanked “because some of the words used were inappropriate.”
It remains unclear if the company will now direct its attention to developing a love potion.
