Chinese divorce rates surge in summer months, after school exams

World Today

For the past several years, divorce rates in China consistently jump between June and September, indicating that couples might wait until after China’s gaokao, the strenuous university entrance exams, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The statistics held true for more than a third of Chinese provinces, based on divorce records over the past six years, the Post reported.

Couples go to great lengths to ensure their child’s success on the exams. One couple kept their divorce a secret from their daughter for five years and just pretended to be together when she visited on weekends, the Post reported.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education reported that 68,000 people signed up for the gaokao this year in Beijing, according to the Global Post.