Divorce Now Less of a Taboo for Women in China as Attitudes Shift

Urbanisation, economic mobility and migration have weakened traditional norms: Researcher

- Michelle Ng

BEIJING - When entrepreneur Guo Jia's marriage ended in 2021, she took to Chinese social media to share how she navigated the ups and downs of life as a divorcee and single mother.

"From day one, I decided I would be open about my divorce because there is no shame. Divorce is something I went through, not something I'm to blame for," the 40-year-old Beijing native, who has an eight-year-old son, told The Straits Times.

Her candid social media posts about navigating life after divorce struck a chord with women facing similar struggles.

By May 2024, she had channeled that momentum into founding Mei Club, a women-only network in Beijing offering legal advice, parenting support for single mothers and emotional mentorship.

Ms Guo's journey is part of a broader shift in China, where divorce is no longer whispered with disapproval and more women now speak openly about their breakups, reframing them as fresh starts.

In traditional Chinese culture, the family was seen as the bedrock of society under the authority of the father. Divorce was often regarded as a disgrace, with women labeled selfish or failures for leaving their families, while men could remarry with far less social penalty.

The change comes as official figures released on July 30 show the divorce rate rising faster than the marriage rate in the first half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. In the first six months of 2025, 1.331 million couples registered for divorce, up by 4.5 per cent from 2024, while 3.539 million couples registered for marriage, up by 3.2 per cent from 2024, according to data from China's Civil Affairs Ministry.

The ministry tallies only uncontested divorces registered at civil affairs offices, while cases settled in court are not included — meaning the real number is likely much higher.