Based on a sampling survey of 4,506 university students in Zhejiang Province, this paper systematically analyzes the characteristics of college students’ views on love, marriage and childbearing, as well as the existing problems in marriage and childbearing culture education. The study finds that the marriage and childbearing views of contemporary university students in Zhejiang Province are characterized by the coexistence of diversity, inclusiveness, rationality, pragmatism and low willingness. Their attitudes toward love are relatively conservative with cognitive contradictions, their views on marriage tend to late marriage and non-marriage choices, their overall fertility willingness is low, and the low fertility tendency of female college students is more prominent. However, the marriage and childbearing culture education in colleges and universities has problems such as low popularity, imperfect content system, single educational model and lack of collaborative mechanisms, which fails to effectively play a guiding role in college students’ marriage and childbearing views. Based on this, this paper puts forward optimization strategies for college marriage and childbearing culture education from three dimensions: value guidance, model innovation and collaborative education, aiming to guide college students to establish healthy and rational views on marriage and childbearing, and provide practical reference at the university education level for China to respond to negative population growth and cultivate a new type of marriage and childbearing culture.

Mingyu Dong, Yongqiang Li, Mengjian Gu, Yiheng Yang, Hao Liang, Limin Wu, Zhaoxia Dong. A Study on University Students’ Marriage and Childbearing Culture Education under Negative Population Growth in Zhejiang. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 2: 53-63. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2026.080207.

[1] Song Jian, Liu Shiwen, Tang Tianrong. Observation on China’s Marriage and Childbearing Culture Under the Background of Low Fertility Rate[J]. Population Research, 2024, 48(05): 17-30.

[2] Yao Ying. Constructing a New Type of Marriage and Childbearing Culture to Promote Long-Term Balanced Population Development[J]. Population and Health, 2022, (07): 11.

[3] Mu Guangzong. Optimizing Fertility and Population Optimization: The Strategic Orientation of China’s Population Governance[J]. Journal of China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, 2021, 15(01): 112-123.

[4] Li Ting. Taking the Three-Child Policy and Its Supporting Policies as an Opportunity to Vigorously Promote the Construction of a New Type of Marriage and Childbearing Culture[J]. Population and Health, 2021, (08): 26-27.

[5] Zheng Yexin, Yan Yuteng, Li Ting. The Gradual Changes in College Students’Marriage and Childbearing Concepts: Attention Should Be Paid to the Actual Needs of Young People’s Marriage and Childbearing[J]. Population and Health, 2022, (09): 9-11.

[6] Song Jian. Attach Great Importance to Young People’s Marriage and Childbearing Views and Explore Ways to Solve the Low Fertility Problem[J]. Population and Health, 2022, (09): 8.

[7] Zhu Xiaoqiao, Lü Hongping. The Ethical Conflicts of China’s Low Fertility Crisis and Their Countermeasures[J]. Northwest Population Journal, 2024, 45(01): 26-34. DOI: 10.15884/j.cnki.issn.1007-0672.2024.01.003.

[8] Zhu Yufei, Hu Ziwei, Shen Qi. The Development and Resilience of Contemporary Young People’s Family Views[J]. Youth Exploration, 2025, (06): 33-44. DOI: 10.13583/j.cnki.issn1004-3780.2025.06.003.

[9] Fan Xiaoling, Hu Yi, Tang Ziwen, et al. A Study on Fertility Intention and Its Influencing Factors of Contemporary Young Female College Students Under the Background of the New Population Policy[J]. Health Vocational Education, 2024, 42(24): 132-136. DOI: 10.20037/j.issn.1671-1246.2024.24.37.

[10] Shi Yuqin. A Study on the Current Situation of College Students’Marriage and Childbearing Views and Educational Guidance Strategies[N]. Henan Economic News, 2025-01-23(010).