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【本報訊】政府統計處數字顯示，港男初婚年齡由1981年的27歲，升至去年的31歲，女性則由24歲升至28歲，男女都平均推遲了4年才結婚。有學者指出，隨著時代變遷，港人的價值觀亦有改變，時下青年較遲婚已成為社會趨勢。而且傳統家庭觀念正慢慢轉變，婚姻變得愈來愈「兒戲」。不過，港人結婚、離婚、再婚的比率則不斷上升。
時代變遷，港人接受教育的時間增加，較遲才踏入社會工作，因而年紀較大才組織家庭。政府統計處數字顯示，男性的初婚年齡中位數由1981年的27歲增加至去年的31.2歲，而女性的初婚年齡亦都從23.9歲上升至28.2歲。
另外﹐高教育程度的未婚比例也大幅攀升，在35至39歲年齡組別中，擁有中學及專上教育而從未結婚女性的百分比大幅增加，由1981年的2.4%升至12.5%﹔男性由5.8%增至去年的18.1%。
理工大學應用社會科學系副教授陳沃聰指出，遲婚的原因很多，相信主要由於社會上的學士及副學士學位較從前增加不少，青年讀書多了，留在學校時間也長了，形成時下青年較遲婚，這是一個社會趨勢。
他指出，這令青年留在父母身邊一齊生活的情況增多，令家庭結構越來越多樣化，非只朝「核心家庭」的方向走。對於結婚、離婚及再婚率一併上升，他認為這反映傳統家庭觀念正在慢慢轉變。
Marriage Comes Later than It Used to
According to latest figures released by the Census and Statistics Department, the median age of Hong Kong men getting married for the first time grew from 27 in 1981 to 31 last year, while that of first-time brides here climbed from 24 to 28 in the same time frame. Some scholars say the four-year delay shows that late marriage has become a trend as local residents’ values have changed with the times. However, the marriage, divorce and remarriage rates all increased in those two decades.
Times have changed. Hong Kong residents now spend more time receiving education than they used to and therefore start working and getting married later than they used to. Latest government statistics show the median age of Hong Kong men tying the knot for the first went up from 27 in 1981 to 31.2 last year, while that of first-time brides also gained about four years, from 23.9 in 1981 to 28.3 in 2006.
The percentage of never-married women in the 35-39 age group with secondary and post-secondary education grew from 2.4 percent and 1 percent in 1981 to 12.5 percent and 9.3 percent last year. Similar development was found in the opposite sex as well, with the percentage of never-married men in the age group 35-39 with secondary and post-secondary education rising from 5.8 percent and 1.1 percent in 1981 to 18.1 percent and 9.7 percent last year.
An associate professor of applied social science at the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong pointed out that there could be many reasons for this phenomenon, but he believed the main cause was that the younger generation now spends more time at school as there are more degree vacancies, resulting in a trend that includes later marriage.
He said this trend also led to more young people living with their parents and thus making family structure more diversified rather than toward nuclear families only. As for the rise of marriage, divorce and remarriage rates, he believed it reflects the traditional philosophy of marriage has been changing over the years.
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