Research On The Current Situation,impact And Countermeasures Of Marriage Consumption Among Rural Youth

With the continuous development of China’s society and economy and the country’s emphasis on rural construction,farmers’ living standards are improving and their economic strength is increasing,and their consumption concepts and behaviour are also changing,especially the increasing level of young people’s marital consumption,which has become a focus of increasing concern in society.This paper defines marital consumption as the various forms of expenditure incurred by families of both men and women in the process of entering into marriage,as well as the movement of property between families.The problems posed by youth marital consumption have become an obstacle to rural society’s path towards affluence and have seriously affected the stability and happiness of peasant family life.This paper attempts to show the negative effects of high marital consumption through a description of the marital consumption situation in a rural area,so as to arouse the attention of more people in society and promote a rational concept of marital consumption among farmers.This paper takes S town in Wuwei city,Anhui province,as an example,and selects several villages under the jurisdiction of the township as specific research sites.The interview data were then used to describe the marital consumption of rural youths in three time periods: during the engagement period,during the pre-marriage preparation period and during the marriage period.Seven representative rural families were selected from the interview data as case studies to show the real marital consumption situation of these seven rural families.The study found that the current situation of young people’s marriage consumption in the region is characterised by the urbanisation of wedding banquets,the gradual monetisation of rituals,the personalisation of consumption and the prominence of the phenomenon of high consumption.The reasons behind these phenomena can be summarised in the following four areas: firstly,economic factors;secondly,cultural factors;thirdly,family factors;and fourthly,marriage market factors,which combine to create the phenomenon of high youth marriage consumption in less developed rural areas.This paper analyses the impact of high marriage consumption on families of origin,newly married families,unmarried youth and rural society.Finally,based on the above negative impacts,the paper proposes three directions to improve the phenomenon of high consumption in rural youth marriages,namely changing the concept of rural society,strengthening rural social governance and increasing rural social provision.