China divorce: ‘he just played with his phone’ — mobile addiction causing up to 30 per cent of failed marriages, say counsellors

China’s divorce rate rose from 2 cases per 1,000 people in 2010 to 3.4 per 1,000 in 2019, before dropping to 3.1 per 1,000 people in 2020

However, public opinion is divided on how significant a factor mobile phone use is in causing divorces

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Excessive smartphone use is the reason for 30 per cent of divorces in China and the problem is worsening, say some counsellors. Photo: SCMP artwork

Published: 2:00pm, 15 Mar 2022Updated: 2:19pm, 15 Mar 2022

Mobile phone addiction is responsible for up to 30 per cent of failed marriages in China, claim some marriage counsellors.

“Playing with mobile phones has occupied a great deal of people’s time which should be used to communicate with partners, perform household duties or educate kids. But spending too much time on phones has led to many couples experiencing conflict,” Kang Lanying, a senior marital conflict mediator in Wuhan, Hubei province, central China, told the Yangtze Daily.

There are over 10,000 domestic affairs mediators in Wuhan alone. Cao Hongling, another senior mediator, who works in Wuhan, said 30 per cent of marital conflict cases she has dealt with are related to excessive use of mobile phones.

Cao said she once helped a woman who said she applied for divorce as she felt a sense of ‘suffocation’ at home and didn’t feel any warmth. Photo: Handout

“Mobile phone addiction has led to a lack of communication between husbands and wives. The party who spends too much time on their phone doesn’t share the housework and doesn’t care about the other person. All these problems have eventually led to their divorce,” Cao said.

Cao said it is a form of domestic violence, known as cold violence, when a person spends all their time on their mobile phone and neglects their partner and household duties.

China’s divorce rate rose from 2 cases per 1,000 people in 2010 to 3.4 per 1,000 in 2019, before dropping to 3.1 per 1,000 people in 2020. The surging divorce rate prompted the authorities to introduce a controversial 30-day cooling-off period last year.

Cao said she once helped a woman who said she applied for divorce as she felt a sense of “suffocation” at home and didn’t feel any warmth.