HANOI, Aug. 24 (Xinhuanet)-- Single women accounted for 84.27 percent of the over 4 million single people in Vietnam, according to a Vietnam News Agency report Saturday.

¡¡¡¡Of the totaling over 4 million single population, widows and widowers make up more than 3 million, said the report quoting figures from the 1999 population and housing census.

¡¡¡¡Western lifestyle, which was imported to Vietnam about a decadeago, has led to an increasing number of broken families. There areabout 383,000 divorced people and nearly 200,000 separated people in the country.

¡¡¡¡In Vietnam, single men, in their 40s, 50s and even 60s, can still succeed in finding suitable partners. Meanwhile, it is rather difficult for women, even in their 30s, to find marriage partners.

¡¡¡¡According to a recent survey conducted by the Central Board forWomen's Studies, 35 percent of female single interviewees said they could get married due to their restrictive lifestyles.

¡¡¡¡Additionally, women who are not blessed with good looks or have failed to receive parental approval for their marriage, broken first loves, poverty and poor health are other reasons cited by female singles.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, latest figures released by a family and women's studies center under the National Center for Social Science and Humanities, show that of the 160 former female young volunteer singles, who were exposed to Agent Orange during the war, in the northern province of Ninh Binh, 70 percent are living under the poverty line and just 5 percent are classified as well-to-do. Manyof them said they could not afford the reconstruction of their houses and necessary household utensils. Enditem

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