With getting the nod from their offspring becoming nearly a
mission impossible, senior couples in Shanghai are preferring to
cohabit rather than getting re-married, the Shanghai Morning
Post reported today.
As re-marriage between two elderly people will involve problems
of how to handle their personal deposits, properties and assets and
the inheritance issue, cohabitation has become an ideal option for
senior couples, said an industry analyst.
Wang, a local elderly man aged nearly 70, got to know Lin of
nearly the same age three years ago after his wife died, and they
decided to get married after more than one year. In his surprise,
Wang's two daughters quarreled with him everyday, doubting that Lin
is targeting their father's properties.
In order to prevent their father from remarrying, the two
daughters were tracking Wang's whereabouts in turns, and also hid
his registered permanent residence book. Finally, Wang gave way,
choosing to cohabit with Lin secretly.
However, some elderly don't want to get re-married themselves
for the fear that their remarriage might not last long. The divorce
rate between remarried couples in Tianjin reached 70 percent, and
50 percent in Shanghai.
"We will have more freedom if we don't get married, and it will
be simpler for us to break up," said a local elderly.
Senior re-married couples are obsessed with many problems, with
those cohabiting suffering from large psychological pressure, said
Sun Pengbiao, vice director with the Shanghai Research Center on
Aging.
"The senior couples should be cautious toward cohabiting which
are not admitted and protected by the law," Sun said.
(eastday.com November 1, 2003)