A Study On The Relationship Between Economic Growth And Divorce Rate In China

In recent years,with the rapid economic growth,the degree of opening to the outside world has been deepened.Marriage plays an increasingly weak role in maintaining family harmony,which is directly reflected in the increasing divorce rate in China year by year.Therefore,the question this paper focuses on is whether there is a relationship between economic growth and divorce rate in China? Based on the literature of domestic and foreign scholars,this paper combines qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis to explore the relationship between the two.Firstly,based on the economic theory of marriage of Levenger and Becker,and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,this paper expounds the interaction mechanism between economic growth and divorce rate.Secondly,through comparative analysis,this paper first discusses the current situation of divorce in different stages of economic growth since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,and finds that the divorce rate in the tortuous economic development stage of China from the initial slow growth to the marriage law enacted in 1950 to the steep decline in the Cultural Revolution;Due to the advance of the reform and opening up,the multi-cultural impact on the traditional concept of marriage,China’s divorce rate in the stage of steady economic progress ups and downs,the overall trend of a steady rise;In the stage of high-quality economic development,the divorce rate in Our country shows a straight upward trend.Then,based on the international comparison results,it is found that the high divorce rate in developed countries has become a common phenomenon,and the stability of marriage in developing countries is also facing challenges with the economic growth.Finally,this paper discusses the relationship between economic growth and divorce rate in China from the perspective of regional and urban differentiation.Based on the Granger causality test method,the time series data were first used to analyze the divorce phenomenon at the national level.The results showed that for every 1% increase in per capita GDP,the divorce rate increased by 2.3871%on average.Then the regional differences between different regions and cities of different levels are discussed from the dual perspective of panel data.The results from different regional perspectives show that economic growth in eastern China will not promote divorce rate,but high divorce rate will promote economic growth.The high divorce rate in the central region slightly increases the economic growth.Conversely,economic growth does not increase the divorce rate.Economic growth in the west can raise divorce rates,but rising divorce rates will not boost the local economy.From the perspective of different levels of cities,it can be concluded that there is one-way Granger causality between economic growth and divorce rate in first-tier and second-tier cities,while there is no Granger causality between economic growth and divorce rate in third-tier cities.Through the combination of theoretical analysis and empirical test,it is found that the rising divorce rate in China in the past 40 years of reform and opening up reflects the result of China’s economic growth to a certain extent.It implies that the ancient China has shaken off the dust of history and is moving towards a democratic,civilized and progressive modern country.But divorce can also bring harm to families and society.Therefore,it is all the more important to curb the trend of high divorce rate rationally.