A man searches through a matchmaker agency website to find an Asian woman life partner. Increasing numbers of southeast Asian men, particularly in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are marrying foreigners because fewer women in their homelands are willing to wed, a new study said Monday.(Agencies) |
Increasing numbers of southeast Asian men, particularly in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are marrying foreigners because fewer women in their homelands are willing to wed, a new study said Monday. The phenomenon, which dates back more than a decade, has even created a detectable trend in women's migration, said the study by Daniele Belanger of the University of Western Ontario University. "Since the beginning of the 1990s, more and more men in southeast Asia are looking abroad to find a wife," wrote Belanger in the journal of France's National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED). In Taiwan, 15 percent of wives were of foreign origin in 2009; eight percent in South Korea. In Japan, the phenomenon started earlier, in the 1980s, but has remained at a modest level: only five or six percent of marriages in the mid-2000s involved foreign wives. But in all three places, foreign brides represented the largest group of new immigrants apart from the temporary workers, wrote Belanger. And the reason was the lack of women at home, she added. With women's education levels rising so was their representation in the workplace, she explained. Increasing numbers of them were not willing to settle for the traditional role of a wife -- at least as it exists in its current form. They preferred to keep their jobs and stay single. For men however, "they have the responsibility to continue the paternal line by giving birth to a son and, in many cases, looking after their aged parents," Belanger wrote. They could not therefore remain bachelors. There were even marriage agencies specialising in this sector, charging the man's family between 5,000 and 10,000 euros. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
本周一發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)最新調(diào)查稱,由于當(dāng)?shù)氐脑讣夼絹?lái)越少,東南亞越來(lái)越多的男性開(kāi)始娶外籍媳婦,這一現(xiàn)象在日本、韓國(guó)和中國(guó)臺(tái)灣地區(qū)最為突出。 這項(xiàng)由加拿大西安大略大學(xué)的丹尼爾?貝朗格開(kāi)展的研究稱,這一現(xiàn)象在十幾年前就開(kāi)始出現(xiàn),甚至催生了一股明顯的女性移民潮。 貝朗格在發(fā)表于法國(guó)人口研究所期刊上的報(bào)告中寫道:“自上世紀(jì)90年代初以來(lái),東南亞地區(qū)越來(lái)越多的男性開(kāi)始娶外國(guó)老婆?!?/p> 據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì),中國(guó)臺(tái)灣地區(qū)2009年的外籍媳婦比例為15%,韓國(guó)的這一比例為8%。 在日本,這一現(xiàn)象出現(xiàn)于更早的80年代,但外國(guó)媳婦這一群體的數(shù)量一直沒(méi)有大的增長(zhǎng):21世紀(jì)初期中葉,日本“洋媳婦”的比例僅為5%至6%。 貝朗格寫道,在以上三個(gè)地區(qū),外籍媳婦成為除臨時(shí)勞工外最大的新移民群體。據(jù)她分析,這一現(xiàn)象的主要原因是這些地方想結(jié)婚的女性越來(lái)越少。 她解釋稱,隨著女性受教育水平的提高,她們?cè)诼殘?chǎng)的地位也得以提升。 越來(lái)越多的女性不再滿足于做一個(gè)賢妻良母——至少目前存在這種情況。她們希望能繼續(xù)工作,不著急結(jié)婚。 貝朗格寫道,但對(duì)于男性來(lái)說(shuō),“他們肩負(fù)著傳宗接代的任務(wù),很多人還有照顧雙親的重任?!?/p> 因此他們不可能到了一定的年齡還不結(jié)婚。 一些地區(qū)甚至還有此類的婚介機(jī)構(gòu),費(fèi)用為五千至一萬(wàn)歐元不等。 相關(guān)閱讀 “七年之癢”容易過(guò) “十二年之癢”是難關(guān) (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: detectable:可發(fā)覺(jué)的;可看穿的 settle for: to be satisfied with(滿足于) |