New pragmatic marriage arrangement stirs online debates

New two-headed marriage (两头婚) style in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces stirs online debates in China recently.

Traditional marriage causes huge pressures in today's society in China. First of all the costs to get married are becoming increasingly unbearable. Moreover most youngsters ready to get married are only child, leaving the elderly parents from the bride side alone with no one to care. Also new generations, especially females have more ‘expectations in life’ than just moving in with the husband’s family.

In a nutshell, “two-headed marriage” implies involvement of both families, often taking periodic turns living in one of the parental homes or simply living apart for periods of time. This avoids the unbearable costs of buying a new home and keeps the responsibility of care for both families. The usual plan in this arrangement is to have 2 kids, one under the husband’s family name and the other under the wife’s family name (and her hukou) for their offspring.

As one might imagine, “two-headed marriage” has sparked huge debates about marriage, love, responsibility, lifestyle in social media

One thing is certain though, Chinese society is in huge transformation with ‘pragmatic’ juggles of significant adaptations and changing lifestyles with traditions and habits.

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