According to an article on October 31’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Chinese women are changing their criteria in choosing a spouse. They prefer “budget husbands” who are not rich, but care about their partner and know how to cook.
德国《法兰克福汇报》10月31日文章，中国女性中意“经济适用男” 中国女性正在改变自己的择偶标准：男人不需要太多的钱，但要关心自己的爱人，还要会做饭。
For years, China’s marriage market is presenting "female deficit". Because of the one-child policy, many parents prefer to have a boy, not a girl, which led to numerous abortion and difficulty for men to find a mate. They are nothing if they have no car, no house or substantial deposits. Recently, however, China’s marriage standards are gradually being rewritten - Chinese women began to put some "soft skills" before economic factors. How did it happen?
中国的婚姻市场多年来一直呈现“女性赤字”——由于独生子女政策，许多父母更倾向要儿子，而不是女儿。这导致众多人工流产，也让目前许多中国男性找不到对象。没有车、没有房子和没有丰厚的存款，男人就什么也不是。不过，近来中国的婚姻标准正在逐渐被改写——中国女性开始把一些“软技能”放在经济因素之前。这又是怎么回事?
The 2009 publication of the book Me and My Budget Husband popularized the term “budget husband”， and its 2012 transformation into a TV drama series fueled the term’s further spread. The word "budget husband" originates from the word "budget housing", government subsidized public housing for low-income households. As the name implies, budget husbands’ economic power trails that of "diamond husbands" -- intelligent, educated, rich, and well-mannered men from respectable families。
2009年，一本名为《我和我的经济适用男》的书让“经济适用男”这个说法得到普及，而2012年这本书改编的电视剧让这个词被更多人熟知。“经济适用男”一词来源于“经济适用房”，即政府为低收入家庭出资提供的公共性住房。由名字可以看出，经济适用男的经济实力不如那些“钻石男”，即来自上流家庭、聪明、有学识、有钱且有修养的男子。
Two years later, this kind of sweet guys have become the model husband Chinese women are seeking in reality. If a “budget husband” can be compared to a car, he will be a Toyota Corolla, which is, as a media said, economical, reliable and cheap. This model may not attract lots of attention, nor will it bring envy, "but it can carry you to wherever you want to go."
两年后，这种“暖男”如今已成为中国女性追求的现实男性的标准。“如果经济适用男是一辆车，它就是一辆丰田花冠车”，一家媒体这样解释其优点：手紧、可靠且价廉。该车型可能无法引起朋友的大量关注，也不会引发羡慕，“但它可以载着你去到想要去的地方。”
Another media even listed the standards of ideal "budget husband": 1.72 to 1.83 meters tall, a university degree, monthly wage between 3,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, not drink or smoke. Other requirements include: patient, caring, reliable, generous, responsible, polite, and able to cook。
另一家媒体更是列举出“经济适用梦想男”的标准：身高应该在1.72米至1.83米之间，大学学位是必需的，收入在3000元和1万元之间。他应该不喝酒、不抽烟。其他要求还包括：要有耐心、爱心，可靠、大方，有责任心、有礼貌，并且会做饭。
For many Chinese women and their parents, a kind of new criteria in choosing a spouse is widely popular- "reliable". Physical attractiveness, humor, charm and romance are just "added bonus", but not necessarily required。
对许多中国女性和其父母来说，择偶正广泛流行着一种新标准——“靠谱”。外表吸引力、幽默、魅力和浪漫都只是“额外的奖励”，但不一定是必需的。
