The arrival of Starbucks and McDonald's aren’t the only signs that Vietnam is starting to look more like a developed country. According to a new survey, the country’s divorce rate has skyrocketed over the past decade, especially in urban areas, reports Shanghai Daily:
“According to a recent survey co-conducted by Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the General Statistics Office, and with support from the United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF), the number of divorces in Vietnam has increased over the years, from 51,361 cases in 2000 to 88,591 cases in 2010, and 145,791 cases in 2013. As of November 2013, Vietnam's population had reached 90 million.”
A separate study by the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences confirmed the above findings, adding that 60% of the divorces are made up of young couples, with ages ranging from 23 to 30 years while 70% of divorced couples had a marriage life of one to seven years.
On the demographic side, studies “found that women accounted for 70% of people who forwarded their divorce cases to courts and intellectuals and state employees made up the majority of the total divorcees.”
Professor Nguyen Huu Minh, head of the Institute for Family and Gender Studies under the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences, said that in recent years, one out of every four married couples got divorced, adding that:
"Most of the young divorcees lack 'soft skills' in life, as they are normally the 'only child' in their family and they have enjoyed too much care and attention from their parents, which makes them selfish people. In their marriage life, they lack altruism and patience and they often resort to divorce or separation."
Spoiled kids make for poor spouses. Who would have thought?
