After having a baby girl in the third year of their marriage, Wang Ying and Gaoyuan soon found that their child's education consumed much of their earnings.
Here's Wang Ying.

"We've been bringing her to various training schools since she was 3. I think the classes are mostly burdens. We're doing this blindly. But as long as other kids are learning, I want my kid to learn, too, though each class costs 200 yuan, and there are so many classes of different subjects. How can I afford it? Studying abroad will cost more. Being short of money is a big problem. But good education leads to a bright future. We know that."

Besides property costs and expensive children, careers can also be a prohibitive factor. Lai Dongying, who has been in the media industry for two years, says many of the post-'80s around her have set their careers as their priority.

"Different from the conventional idea of getting married before achieving one's career success, many of my friends insist on getting married after. They believe career success is a precondition for setting up a family."

Chen Xin echoes Lai Dongying's saying.

"At present, I still hope I can go abroad for further education. We should take advantage of being young and seize every opportunity to realize a better future, whether by pursuing a higher degree or by attaining some training classes. The final goal is to attain a dream job. I suppose no one wants to stick to one job for a lifetime anymore. We're under 30 years old. We still have a better future to fight for."

Lai Dongying believes her generation's reluctance to get married has nothing to do with love – it's actually because of their sense of responsibility.

"We grew up in relatively relaxed surroundings. So we have relatively open and free ways of thinking. As for marriage, we also hold an idealistic idea of it. We hope we can get married after we are psychologically and materially ready, instead of when people around us think we've come to the right age."