ABSTRACT

As the most direct and serious ramifications of China’s imbalanced population gender structure，unmarried males have the dual features of vulnerability and risk. Their survival and development are imperative and inevitable population and social issues that China have to face in the current and future period.

Thus，this book focuses on the foregoing special group — unmarried males in the background of population sex imbalance of China. Based on data from population censuses and the survey conducted in 2015 about the living quality of rural males in ZG County，Hubei Province，our research，combining both macro and micro perspectives，systematically analyzes the survival condition of unmarried males in China by using demographic and statistical methods. First，we aim to have a clear idea on characteristics，patterns，measurements and causes of marriage squeeze for unmarried males in current China. Next，the survival status and mortality pattem of unmarried males are comprehensively uncovered. Last，we reveal the status of their health and social support，in order to provide scientific evidence for improving the group’s living conditions. The main results imply that （1） from the prospective of period and cohort，marriage squeeze in current China is already severe，（2） the formation mechanism of unmarried males has changed from sex differential in mortality to high sex ratio at birth，（3） unmarried males in China are vulnerable，of large amount，forced to be single and mostly concentrated in rural areas，which will lead to some severe social problems. Their survival status is significantly different from that of ordinary men，and they are confronted with a dual dilemma of higher death risk and unequal life expectancy，（4） unmarried males are in a disadvantage in terms of health and social support.

The unmarried male group is an important challenge for China at present and in the future. The systematic survival study of this group in this book is conducive to fully revealing the survival status and problems of the group，providing basic scientific research for the group’s related study and policy making，as well as promoting population and social security and stability.