Lack of Opportunities to Meet a Partner Hold Young Tokyoites Back from Marriage

The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted its first survey on attitudes toward marriage and childbirth among young Tokyoites with 78.7% of single people responding that they plan to get married one day. However, concerning the hurdles standing in the way of marriage, 50.1% of single men and 47.0% of single women pointed to the lack of opportunities to meet a potential partner. These percentages were higher than the 40.9% of single men and 36.5% of single women who cited economic concerns as a hurdle.

Among the single people surveyed who were not currently in a relationship, the most common problem, mentioned by 67.3%, was not having opportunities to meet a potential partner. In terms of methods they might consider for finding a relationship partner, the most common was receiving an introductions from a friend or acquaintance, at 53.5%, followed by the use of a reliable and relatively inexpensive matching app, at 42.5%.

The survey was conducted from April to May 2024, as part of activities to propose policies to deal with the falling birthrate in Japan. Survey responses were received from 2,198 people between the ages of 18 and 34, who were primarily employees of TCCI member companies working in Tokyo.

Among the respondents, 76.4% said that the ideal number of children would be two or more. However, only 44.2% said that it would be realistic to have two or more children, while 55.7% said that the realistic number would be one child or none.

The number of children mentioned by those surveyed—both ideal and realistic—tended to increase along with the income bracket. Among those earning ¥3 million or less a year, 24.6% said that no children would be the ideal number.

The biggest hurdle to having children among people in that income bracket, by far, was financial concerns, mentioned by 74.1% of the respondents. While many women cited the increased burden of housework and childcare, many men pointed to long working hours and the possibility of being transferred to a different city or having to live away from one’s family for work, reflecting traditional views on gender-based roles. Women expressed much greater concern that marriage would interfere with their careers.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)