Late in the evening of the last day of the year, in a rented room of more than 20 m2 in a small alley in Hanoi, Mr. Hoang Nguyen (29 years old) sat silently in front of a laptop that had turned off the screen.
The girlfriend's message is still there, the familiar question repeated after nearly three years of dating: "When are we planning to get married?".
Nguyen did not answer immediately. He opened the monthly expense table, the rent, living expenses, money sent back to his parents' hometown, gasoline, and the rest were finally almost zero.
Three years of dating, they are passionate enough to think about marriage. But every time they mention the two words "wedding", Nguyen cleverly flies to another topic.
Marrying in the city now is like implementing a risky project that I don't have capital for. I don't want my wife to stay in a cramped rented room forever, nor do I want my child to be born and parents have to tie down every penny of diapers," his voice softened.
Mr. Nguyen's story is not unique. House prices in big cities have increased rapidly to the point of far exceeding the accumulation capacity of the majority of young workers. When average income does not keep up with living and marriage expenses, it suddenly becomes a risky economic problem.
In another city, Ms. Minh Anh (32 years old, Ho Chi Minh City) chose to be single for another reason. As a marketing staff with a stable income, M.A does not lack conditions to get married, but what she witnessed from her own working environment made her falter.
I have seen many female colleagues have to give up promotion opportunities, give up overseas business trips just because they are married, have young children, and have to take care of their husband's family matters.
I love my current life, where I have full authority to decide what I eat, where I go and what I spend money on. Marriage in the eyes of many young people of our generation is no longer the only destination to prove stability or success," Minh Anh shared.
Minh Anh chooses to focus her energy on work, skills enhancement courses, and short-day self-reward trips. For her, being single is not a shortage, but a proactive state.
For many young people, marriage is no longer a matter of "piggybacking" or personal selfishness, these choices are reflecting the very real pressures that young people have to bear.
This issue does not stop at the private story of each individual. As more and more young people "fear marriage", the consequence is a decrease in birth rates, rapidly aging population, and shrinking future labor force.
Marriage, in the end, is a choice, not a duty. Young people do not refuse love, they are only considering more carefully the price to pay for a lifelong commitment decision. And to make that choice easier, a more sustainable foundation from psychology to finance is needed," Minh Anh added.
