Scores of couples divorce to get better compensation in Chinese village awaiting demolition
Newly single people are substantially better of than if they stay together
Most of the 160 plus couples in a village in eastern China have filed for divorce to be entitled to more compensation for the demolition of their homes, a local newspaper reports. according to reports.
The residents of Jiangbei village in Nanjing, Jiangsu province are facing mass eviction to make way for a new hi-tech zone . The couples filing for divorce range for newlyweds to octogenarians, the Nanjing Morning Post reports.
Villagers said that a couple was entitled to 220 square metres of compensated housing. However, after a divorces, one keeps the house while the one that moves out gets 70 square meters of housing plus 131,000 yuan in compensation.
Generally speaking, the divorce is in name only as most of the couples continued to live together, the paper reported.
A man in his 80s who divorced his wife said the compensation was worth it even though they had enjoyed a good marriage.
Another resident said it did not concern him if he remarried his wife.
“It’s not something I care for now,” he said. “Everyone is doing it. We’ll deal with the other matters later.”
Most of the divorced couples were still living together, the report said.
However, a legal expert who did not want to be named told the paper that fabricating a divorce was a dangerous game as it bears legal consequences. The expert added that similar fake divorce trends had been observed in other areas of Nanjing including Jiangxinzhou, Jiangning and Pukou, and he urged the authorities to look into the matter by adjusting its land compensation policy to curb abuses.