According to official statistics, the average family size dropped from 4.79 members in 1985 to 3.64 in 1997.
People tend to get married later.
The average marrying age was 24 years old in 1997, compared to 22 in 1985. Marriages between Chinese and foreign nationals nearly tripled between 1982 and 1997, reaching 50,773 in 1997. Nearly all of those marrying non-Chinese were women. Selecting a spouse is now based less on the political background of a person, but more on a person's income, education and character. According to an official survey, family tradition is changing.