According to an article on October 31’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Chinese women are changing their criteria in choosing a spouse. They prefer “budget husbands” who are not rich, but care about their partner and know how to cook.

德國《法蘭克福匯報》10月31日文章，中國女性中意“經(jīng)濟適用男” 中國女性正在改變自己的擇偶標準：男人不需要太多的錢，但要關心自己的愛人，還要會做飯。

For years, China’s marriage market is presenting "female deficit". Because of the one-child policy, many parents prefer to have a boy, not a girl, which led to numerous abortion and difficulty for men to find a mate. They are nothing if they have no car, no house or substantial deposits. Recently, however, China’s marriage standards are gradually being rewritten - Chinese women began to put some "soft skills" before economic factors. How did it happen?

中國的婚姻市場多年來一直呈現(xiàn)“女性赤字”——由于獨生子女政策，許多父母更傾向要兒子，而不是女兒。這導致眾多人工流產(chǎn)，也讓目前許多中國男性找不到對象。沒有車、沒有房子和沒有豐厚的存款，男人就什么也不是。不過，近來中國的婚姻標準正在逐漸被改寫——中國女性開始把一些“軟技能”放在經(jīng)濟因素之前。這又是怎么回事?

The 2009 publication of the book Me and My Budget Husband popularized the term “budget husband”， and its 2012 transformation into a TV drama series fueled the term’s further spread. The word "budget husband" originates from the word "budget housing", government subsidized public housing for low-income households. As the name implies, budget husbands’ economic power trails that of "diamond husbands" -- intelligent, educated, rich, and well-mannered men from respectable families。

2009年，一本名為《我和我的經(jīng)濟適用男》的書讓“經(jīng)濟適用男”這個說法得到普及，而2012年這本書改編的電視劇讓這個詞被更多人熟知。“經(jīng)濟適用男”一詞來源于“經(jīng)濟適用房”，即政府為低收入家庭出資提供的公共性住房。由名字可以看出，經(jīng)濟適用男的經(jīng)濟實力不如那些“鉆石男”，即來自上流家庭、聰明、有學識、有錢且有修養(yǎng)的男子。

Two years later, this kind of sweet guys have become the model husband Chinese women are seeking in reality. If a “budget husband” can be compared to a car, he will be a Toyota Corolla, which is, as a media said, economical, reliable and cheap. This model may not attract lots of attention, nor will it bring envy, "but it can carry you to wherever you want to go."

兩年后，這種“暖男”如今已成為中國女性追求的現(xiàn)實男性的標準。“如果經(jīng)濟適用男是一輛車，它就是一輛豐田花冠車”，一家媒體這樣解釋其優(yōu)點：手緊、可靠且價廉。該車型可能無法引起朋友的大量關注，也不會引發(fā)羨慕，“但它可以載著你去到想要去的地方。”

Another media even listed the standards of ideal "budget husband": 1.72 to 1.83 meters tall, a university degree, monthly wage between 3,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, not drink or smoke. Other requirements include: patient, caring, reliable, generous, responsible, polite, and able to cook。

另一家媒體更是列舉出“經(jīng)濟適用夢想男”的標準：身高應該在1.72米至1.83米之間，大學學位是必需的，收入在3000元和1萬元之間。他應該不喝酒、不抽煙。其他要求還包括：要有耐心、愛心，可靠、大方，有責任心、有禮貌，并且會做飯。

For many Chinese women and their parents, a kind of new criteria in choosing a spouse is widely popular- "reliable". Physical attractiveness, humor, charm and romance are just "added bonus", but not necessarily required。

對許多中國女性和其父母來說，擇偶正廣泛流行著一種新標準——“靠譜”。外表吸引力、幽默、魅力和浪漫都只是“額外的獎勵”，但不一定是必需的。