XIAN, China, March 7 Reuters Freelance copywriter Chai Wanrou thinks marriage is an unfair institution. Like many young women in China, she is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children, presenting the government with a challenge it could do without.

Regardless of whether you39;re extremely successful or just ordinary, women still make the biggest sacrifices at home, the 28yearold feminist said at a cafe in the northwestern city of Xian.

Many who got married in previous generations, especially women, sacrificed themselves and their career development, and didn39;t get the happy life they were promised. Living my own life well is difficult enough nowadays, she told Reuters.

President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing as China39;s population fell for a second consecutive year and new births reached historic lows.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang also vowed to work towards a birthfriendly society and boost childcare services in this year39;s government work report.

The Communist Party views the nuclear family as the bedrock of social stability, with unmarried mothers stigmatised and largely denied benefits. But a growing number of educated women, facing unprecedented insecurity amid record youth unemployment and an economic downturn, are espousing singleism instead.

China39;s single population aged over 15 hit a record 239 million in 2021, according to official data. Marriage…