Chinese company withdraws controversial policy on marital status after public backlash

A company in Shandong province, China, has rescinded its controversial policy mandating unmarried and divorced employees to get married by September or face termination. The policy, introduced by Shuntian Chemical Group, sparked significant public outcry and drew attention from government officials, ultimately leading to its reversal.

The company, which employs over 1,200 people, had imposed strict guidelines on unmarried workers aged 28 to 58. The directive required them to "resolve their personal marriage issues" by the end of September. Failure to comply would result in consequences such as writing a self-reflection, undergoing an evaluation, or even termination of employment by the third quarter.

In its notice, the company criticized single employees for not answering the national call to marry and have children, accusing them of being "disloyal and disobedient to parental advice."

The announcement, part of China's broader push to address the country's declining birth rate, met with widespread condemnation on social media, with many expressing concern that the policy could be used as a pretext for firing employees. "Isn’t this just another reason to fire an employee?" questioned one Weibo user.

Following the backlash, local officials from the human resources and social security bureau visited the company on February 13, highlighting that the policy violated Chinese labor laws. The company swiftly retracted the directive the following day, acknowledging that some of the language used was inappropriate.

This incident comes amid ongoing government efforts to encourage marriage and childbirth to combat China's shrinking and aging population. Official statistics revealed that the number of new marriages in the country fell by a fifth last year, marking the sharpest decline on record. The population also dropped for the third consecutive year in 2024, reaching 1.408 billion.

In response to the country's demographic challenges, a political advisor has proposed lowering the legal age for marriage to 18 as a potential solution. Currently, China’s legal marriage age is among the highest globally — 22 for men and 20 for women. However, this proposal has faced skepticism, particularly from younger generations dealing with high unemployment rates.

One comment on Weibo pointed out the financial challenges faced by young people, asking, “When you can’t even earn money, do you really want to have a baby for your parents to raise?”