Calling it quits: Divorce rate jumps 6%

就此终结:离婚率上升6%

More than 3.84 million couples called their marriage off in China last year, a 5.6 percent increase from 2014, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Monday, the China News Service reported.

据中国新闻社报道，民政部周一表示去年中国超过384万对夫妇结束了他们的婚姻，比2014年增长了5.6%。

The national divorce rate has risen sharply since 2002, with the crude divorce rate that is the annual number divorces per 1,000 population increasing from 0.9 to 2.8 last year, according to the ministry.

据民政部表示，自2002年以来全国离婚率急剧上升，每一千人的年离婚率从上一年的0.9涨到2.8。

The rising divorce rate in China is also reflected in the increase in domestic disputes brought to courts. According to the country’s top court, there were 4 million such cases from 2013 to the end of October 2015.

中国离婚率的上升也能从国内增长的法庭争议上体现出来。据国家最高法院称，2013年到2015年十月底共计有400万此类案件。

The changing social and economic conditions and people’s view of marriage were behind the rising divorce rate, said Zhai Zhenwu, professor of sociology and population studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

中国人民大学社会学和人口研究学教授翟隽武表示，离婚率上升背后隐藏的是不断变化的社会和经济条件以及人们对婚姻的看法。

He said in the past discussing divorce meant social pressure, but now people are more open-minded. People frequently migrate from one place to another and that makes sustaining marriage difficult.

教授表示，过去谈离婚意味着(将会有)社会压力，但现在人们更开放了。人们经常从一个地方迁移到另一个地方，而这也使得维持婚姻变得困难。

Fang Ning, director of the Institute of Political Science of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the past when couples were not so well off, it was hard for them to separate and many were bound together merely to support a family.

中国社会科学院政治学研究所主任芳宁表示，过去夫妻之间不甚和睦时，分开对他们来说很难，许多人仅仅是为了支撑一个家庭才绑在一起。

"And now, the couples have fewer extra worries and it is easier for them to leave each other once they find they are not compatible," Fang said.

芳主任说：“现在，夫妻们几乎没有额外的负担，一旦他们发现彼此不能共处，离开对方对他们来说是一件非常简单的事。”

Li Hongzhao, a Beijing lawyer, said that the country’s laws are also behind the high divorce rate. A 2003 regulation on marriage and divorce simplified the divorce procedure and allowed couples to divorce the same day.

北京的一位律师李洪钊表示，国家的法律也是高离婚率背后的原因。2003年一个关于结婚和离婚的条例简化了离婚程序，允许夫妻(结婚)当天离婚。

The high divorce rate is also due to the independent personality and lack of tolerance and patience, because most husbands and wives born in 1980s and 1990s were the only child of a family, Li said.

李律师表示，高离婚率也归咎于(现代人)独立的人格和缺乏宽容和耐心，因为大多数出生在80年代和90年代的夫妻都是家里的独生子女。

A study by a court in Siming district of Xiamen, Fujian province, showed that the post-1980s was fueling the rising divorce rate, and about 60 percent of divorce cases were brought by women.

福建厦门思明区法院的一项研究表明，80后助力了离婚率的增长，而且大约有60%的离婚案件是由女性提出的。

Generally, women have a higher level of education, better income and enhanced family status, making them less reliant on men economically or psychologically, said Kuang Jieyu, a judge responsible for family proceedings.

一般来说，女性有了更高层次的教育，更好的收入和更高的家庭地位，这使得她们在经济和心理上对男人的依赖都有所减少——一位负责家庭诉讼案件的法官匡婕妤如是说。

Children and property are no longer the main concerns for couples who plan to divorce, Kuang said. About three-quarters of divorced couples have children, according to the study.

匡婕妤表示，孩子和财产不再是打算离婚的夫妻考虑的主要问题了。研究显示，约四分之三的离婚夫妻都有孩子。