Single women in Shanghai increases.

While the rest of the nation frets¹ over the rising proportion of boys to girls, in Shanghai it is successful single women who are finding it increasingly hard to find a spouse².

According to the latest survey, the number of single women with degrees and downtown jobs is on the rise.

The population sampling survey, conducted by Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau, reveals a rapid rise in the size of the unmarried population, especially women.

The survey interviewed 1 percent of the city's 17 million people, finding a 1.6 percent growth in the unmarried population of those older than 15 with the growth of unmarried women 0.9 percent higher than that of men.

Although the overall number of single men is still higher than that of unmarried women, in some areas single women now outnumber their male counterparts.

The growth in the total number of single people is attributed to the spread of college education, which often delays marriage plans.

Many women may also postpone³ hunting for spouses⁴ while they develop their careers.

According to the survey, the growth of unmarried women with three years at college, four years at university and a postgraduate⁵ degree are 7.6 percent, 6.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.

By comparison, figures for men with the same qualifications are 5.8, 3.5 and 0.3 percent.

The study also found the likelihood of a woman being single increased with her home's proximity⁶ to the downtown area.

The city's unmarried now constitute 21.4 percent of the total population over the age of 15, with the percentage growing to 24.3 in the downtown area.