台灣四十多歲未婚女性訪查紀要

Unmarried Women in Their 40s in Taiwan Report on Initial Research, March 2015

“Asians are marrying later, and less, than in the past. This has profound implications for women, traditional family life and Asian politics.” (Economist 20 August 2011) This is a huge change, given the fact that up to the recent past, all Asian women were married, with marriage the only ‘career’ choice and perspective for women’s social advancement and security. In East Asian Confucianism, the family is the center of life, and considered the root of social stability, education and of the country as a whole. Confucianism defines girls as outsiders in their birth family. They are supposed to marry and become a member of the husband’s family. A girl should thus not be emotionally attached to her own mother, as her husband’s parents will become her ‘true parents’ later. They are the only ones she has to care for in their old age, fulfilling her duty as required by filial piety. Without marriage, women were not part of any family and could never be worshiped by descendants in the ancestor cult. In addition, no relative provided care in their old age. Times have changed dramatically, and the Confucian family is no longer attractive for modern, well-educated women with professional jobs and incomes of their own.