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BEIJING -EXTRAMARITAL affairs and growing work demands pushed the number of Chinese divorces to 1.4 million last year, up 18.2 per cent from the year before, state media said.
Simplified divorce regulations also contributed to the rising number of marital break-ups, which are up from 341,000 in 1980, the Xinhua news agency said on late Thursday, citing the ministry of civil affairs.
In addition, spouses were now less likely to put up with problems they might previously have accepted such as extramarital affairs.
'People's expectations are higher. The things couples compromised on ten years ago aren't tolerated today,' said Xu Anqi, an expert from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
New divorce procedures, which took effect in 2003 allowing couples to divorce within a day at a cost of 10 yuan (S$1.99), were also blamed for the growing divorce rate, Xinhua said.
Previously couples needed permission from employers or community committees to divorce, and many stayed together to avoid public embarrassment in what is still a traditional conservative society, it added.
Alongside the spike in divorces, 9.5 million couples got married last year, up 11.8 per cent on year, said the government statement. -- AFP
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