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华裔为何更乐于结婚？
Why do Chinese Canadians prefer marriage?
《大中报》记者南茜（Nancy Jin）(2011-07-04 PM03:54)

2006年人口普查显示，非婚同居（common-law）人口在整个加拿大范围内不断增加。结婚家庭仅占所有家庭比例的68.6%，低于5年前的70.5%及20年前的80.2%。而同居的家庭比例则从5年前的13.8%及20年前的7.2%增加到15.5%。
Common-law living is increasingly popular across Canada, according to 2006 census data recently released. While married-couple families now account for 68.6 % of all families, down from 70.5% five years earlier and 80.2% two decades ago, the proportion of common-law families, meanwhile, rose to 15.5% from 13.8% five years ago, and 7.2% two decades ago.

普查数据还显示，多伦多的结婚配偶百分比高居加拿大个城市第二位，同居配偶百分比则为最低。专家们认为多伦多众多的移民人口可能是造成这一现象的原因之一。 那么，华人移民是否更倾向于结婚而非同居？
Census data also indicate that Toronto has the second-highest percentage of married-couple families, and the lowest percentage of common-law families. The high immigration population in Toronto may be a contributing factor, experts say. Are immigrant families, such as Chinese families, more likely to be married than to live common-law?

的确，与其他社区人士相比，华人社区人士更倾向于结婚（2001年已婚人口比例为56%，其他社区50%）而非同居（2001年同居人口比例2%，其他社区10%）。
Indeed, people in the Chinese community are more likely to be married than other Canadians (56% vs. 50% in 2001), and less likely to live in common-law relationships (2% vs. 10% in 2001) -- according to a different report released by Statistics Canada.

华人家庭辅导中心（Chinese Family Services Ontario）的行政主管Patrick Au先生在采访中向大中报表示，华人社区不大认可同居关系，这也是为什么很多华人非婚同居家庭问题多多的原因。Au认为婚姻为双方关系提供了更坚固的保 障，使双方关系更为健康。“因为在经过注册和婚礼等过程后，结婚的双方愿意维系一个更长久的婚姻关系。而非婚同居的双方则仅仅是选择一种尝试的关系，因此 对这种关系缺少责任心和努力，且多不愿生养下一代。”
And people in the Chinese Community tend not to recognize common-law relationships, which is why many Chinese common-law couples are struggling. Patrick Au, the executive director of Chinese Family Services Ontario (CFSO) told Chinese News that marriage provides a more secure relationship than common-law and helps to maintain a healthy couple relationship. “Married couples tend to commit to a relationship for a long-term base, after going through a registration process or a marriage ceremony, whereas common-law couples may simply just give the relationship a try, so they are less responsible or committed to it, and less likely to have kids,” said Au.

Abe Kass家庭服务中心（Abe Kass Services）的著名婚姻咨询专家Abe Kass在采访中向大中报表示，他同意结婚夫妻比同居双方能维持更为健康的家庭关系的观点。“这就好比在路上开一辆有毛病的车。你肯定感到很不安全，因为 车随时都会死在路上…… 因此有婚姻保障的夫妻则不会那么紧张。”
“Marriage definitely offers more security to a relationship,” Abe Kass, a well-known marriage consultant with Abe Kass Services that provides relationship counseling to the mainstream community told Chinese News in an interview. Kass agrees that married couples are able to maintain a more healthy relationship than common-law partners. “It could be likened to driving a car with mechanical problems on the road. You certainly feel insecure, since the car might break down anytime…So married couples are more relaxed under the license,” said Kass.

对华人社区来说，非婚同居的配偶关系，存在着很多含混不清的问题。Au先生表示，当同居配偶双方分居时，法律上双方享有的财产分割权力是否与结婚 配偶相同？同居配偶双方的经济地位是否与结婚配偶地位一样平等？Au认为，如果婚姻能在法律和经济上提供更平等的地位，结婚双方对家庭关系的定义就更明 确。
And common-law relationships are confusing, especially to people in the Chinese community. Au indicated that confusion has been demonstrated both legally, and financially. What are the laws regarding property division when a common-law couple, as opposed to a married couple is separated? What about the financial status of a common-law couple, compared to a married couple? If marriage provides more equal status, legal entitlements and financial protection, Au thinks that married couples enjoy a more clear definition of the relationship.

Au表示，“很多非婚同居的配偶都以为他们的法律地位与结婚配偶一样。其实这是一个错误的看法。事实上，就安省来说，在家庭财产分割和遗产继承方面，结婚和非婚同居配偶享受的法律保障是不同的。”
“Many people in common-law relationships assume that they are as legally bound to each other as married couples, but the assumption is not correct. In fact, in Ontario, married and common-law couples are treated differently when it comes to the division of family property and inheritances,” said Au.

加拿大统计局的一项研究报告“加拿大的家庭暴力：2004年统计研究”表明，非婚同居配偶中发生的被配偶谋杀比例为每100万中有15例，高于结婚配偶的每100万中4例，和离婚配偶的每100万中的1例的比例。
Moreover, common-law partners were more at risk than married and divorced couples of being killed by a spouse: in 2004, about 15 common-law partners per million couples were killed, compared to four married persons and 1 divorced person, according to another report released by StatsCan: “Family Violence in Canada: A statistical profile.”

但Kass认为，非婚同居和结婚配偶面临同等程度的由情感失控导致的家庭暴力问题。
But there is no substantial difference between a common-law relationship and a marriage when it comes to the issue of domestic violence, which is caused by anger, said Kass.

Kass 认为，人们会在情感失控的情况下对配偶实施暴力行为。此时，他们根本不会顾忌其配偶关系的状态。与非婚同居配偶相比，结婚配偶更愿意“维系”婚姻关系，不太可能分居。因此，婚姻会将这种暴力的配偶关系束缚得更牢固，家庭暴力现象则会更为严重。
“People tend to be violent when they are angry at their partner, and when they are angry, they don’t care about their relationship status,” said Kass, who indicates that married couples are more “glued” to the relationship and less likely to separate with their partner than common-law couples, so the situation of domestic violence could be more severe, due to the fact that the marriage license binds the abusive relationship together more tightly.

从另一角度讲，结婚配偶双方可能比非婚同居配偶更相爱，对其配偶关系也就更有信心。而非婚同居配偶则对配偶关系感到不安全，也不愿更努力维持这种关系。
Kass说：“因此，综合上述两方面的原因，就家庭暴力本身来讲，我认为两种关系没有本质区别。”
On the other hand, married couples may love each other more strongly and be more confident about the relationship than common-law couples, who are more insecure about the relationship and show no commitment to a marriage. “Taking into consideration of the different aspects of the issue, in the end, there is no difference between common-law and marriage when it comes to domestic violence,” said Kass.

尽管华人更倾向于婚姻关系，因为这种关系向对女方提供更多法律和经济的保障。相比之下，同居的配偶关系在这些方面的保障要低。但是，家庭暴力现象 在华人社区的同居和婚姻关系中都有不断上升的现象。主要原因是移民比起当地加拿大人来会经受更多压力，且被虐待一方由于语言障碍等因素，在家庭暴力发生后 不愿寻求帮助。
Despite the fact that people in the Chinese community tend to be married -- which offers more legal and financial security to a female spouse -- than to live in a common-law relationship, domestic violence tends to rise in both common-law and marriage relationships in the Chinese community, as a result of the fact that immigrants are more likely to experience stressful life events than their non-immigrant Caucasian counterparts, and that the abused partner is less likely to seek help, due to the language barriers, when domestic violence occurs.

Au表示：“在华人社区，妇女被虐待的事件常有发生，虐待事件可发生于受良好教育的和没有文化的家庭，大陆人士，香港人士，台湾人士，及加拿大出生的华人。”
“It happens quite often in the Chinese community, where women are assaulted by a either well-educated or illiterate husband, whether he is from mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwan or is Canadian-born,” said Au.