Why Some Rural Chinese Men Cannot Get Married at the Expected Age: A Social Network Perspective

If a man has a matchmaking network, will this increase his chance of marrying? If so, do the different types of network ties play different roles? Using survey data from X County in Anhui Province (N = 412), we analyze the determinants of first marriage probability for 18 to 50year-old rural Chinese men in terms of their social networks. Age at first marriage for rural Chinese men is concentrated in the interval between 22 and 27 years. Unmarried men aged 28 and older have become a vulnerable group in the marriage market because their probability of getting married is markedly lower. A man’s characteristics and possession of resources, including his matchmaking network, as well as individual, family and community factors, are likely to affect the probability that he marries. The chance that men with poorer individual and family characteristics and fewer resources succeed in making a first marriage is markedly reduced.