No sex please, we're Japanese
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 2:46 PM
Japan is in danger of heading for extinction after researchers found that more and more of the country's young people are shunning the idea of marriage and having children.
One in four unmarried men and women in their 30s say they have never had sex, and the majority of young women prefer the single life.
A record 61.4 per cent of unmarried Japanese men aged between 18 and 34 have no girlfriend, up 9.2 percentage points from 2005, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan said.
The percentage of unmarried women with no boyfriend in the same age group also hit a record high of 49.5 per cent, up 4.8 points, while nearly half the respondents of both genders said they do not want to date anyone.
Asked why they remain unmarried, 13.5 per cent of men and 11.6 per cent of women aged between 25 and 34 said they do not know how to be in a relationship, and 11.9 per cent of men and 7.0 per cent of women aged between 18 and 24 gave the same answer, the institute said.
Meanwhile, most respondents said they are willing to get married, with 86.3 per cent of men and 89.4 per cent of women answering they want to get married at some stage.
The study also revealed that more than 25 per cent of both unmarried men and women in their late 30s have never had sex.
An astounding 90 per cent of unmarried young Japanese women said the single life suits them better than marriage.
The survey is conducted by the Tokyo-based think-tank every five years to grasp singles' attitudes toward marriage and relationships.
The latest survey, the seventh of its kind, was conducted in June last year, and analysed answers from about 7,000 people among some 10,000 respondents.
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