Infidelity behind 90% of calls to city’s free marriage hotline

Complaints about infidelity made up nearly 90 percent of the calls that a free marriage counseling hotline has received since it opened in March, local media reported Wednesday.

The hotline, which was set up by the working committee on marriage and family at the nonprofit China Association of Social Work, has taken more than 7,000 calls from residents around the country in its first four months, said Ming Li, the committee's vice director.

The majority of the callers wanted advice about how to mend their relationships and deal with the fallout after an affair, according to a report in the Shanghai Evening Post. About 80 percent of those callers were women.

"Nowadays, people have larger personal networks, so it is much more likely that they will get an opportunity to have an affair," Ming told the Global Times.

In addition, many couples now live apart because of their jobs, which also increases the chance of an affair, she said.

An unhappy sex life was the next most common reason why people called the hotline, the report said.

About 10 percent to 15 percent of callers divorced their spouses because they were unsatisfied with their sex lives.

Personality disputes and family conflicts were other common marital problems.

To help people tackle these problems, Ming said a marriage school will open this September for couples. Classes will be free until the end of this year.

Five psychologists will teach the regularly scheduled classes, which will focus on communication skills.

"Generally speaking, Chinese people are reluctant to express their love directly," Ming said. "It's really important to be able to express one's emotions in a marriage, and we are going to teach people these techniques as well."