High time rise in bride price in rural areas was contained

Bride price is an amount of money, goods and other forms of wealth given to a bride's family by the groom or his parents for the right to marry their daughter.

The practice of exchanging money, goods and property between the families of the bride and groom is as old as human civilization, but in most societies either the groom's family gives bride price to the woman's family or the bride's family pays "dowry" in the form of money, goods and/or property to the groom's family. Interestingly, however, dowry can also be paid by the groom's family to the bride's family.

China is one of the few countries where dowry and bride price coexist, but bride price is mandatory whereas dowry is often voluntary and usually given as part of the bride price. Bride price is the most important ritual and economic transaction between the families of grooms and brides in China's rural areas.

And bride price has been increasing incessantly over the past two decades, and many families cannot afford to pay it to get their sons married. This is particularly true for rural areas which are less developed and where marriage customs are relatively traditional.

A sample survey, "Hundreds of Villages in China", by the New Urbanization and Sustainable Development research group from Xi'an Jiaotong University in January 2018, which covered rural migrant workers aged between 18 and 45 from 11 provinces with relatively low urbanization rates (60 percent or less) reveals some key features of marriage expenses in rural China.

The average cost of a wedding has increased rapidly since 2010, reflecting the Chinese people's pursuit of a higher quality of life as China continues to make progress on the social and economic fronts. Based on the four components of payment in the total amount a groom's parents pay to the bride's family — bride price, marital housing, matchmaker fee and wedding ceremony — the wedding cost for a groom or his family in rural China can be divided into four types.

The average cost of "marital housing" category is the highest, and can exceed 178,000 yuan ($25,693). This system is prevalent in the eastern provinces. It is followed by "bride price and marital housing" category, which can be more than 85,000 yuan. The average cost of "bride price" category is more than 54,000 yuan, and the practice is prevalent in the western provinces. The "mixed" category is the least costly, with the average cost being at least 20,000 yuan.

The survey data show that bride price is the main barrier that delays the first marriage of men in rural areas of western China, especially because housing prices have skyrocketed there. Bride price also delays rural men's first marriage in eastern China where marital housing is a prerequisite for marriage.

Very high bride price and rising wedding costs are a heavy economic burden on rural families, and men in some families that cannot afford to pay the bride price and wedding cost are forced to remain single, suffering huge mental pressure and social exclusion. Worse, the heavy financial burden of paying the bride price and wedding cost is usually borne by elderly parents, jeopardizing their future in old age.

The abnormally high bride price, however, has drawn the attention of the government. The "No 1 Central Document" for 2023, issued on Feb 13, says addressing the high bride price problem is one of the key tasks of the government to promote rural vitalization.

To ensure efficient governance, it is important to analyze the causes of the high wedding cost. The skewed gender ratio at birth (more males than females) since the 1980s is the main demographic factor behind the rise in bride price — because like many other countries China has more men than women. Bride price has increased also because of rapid urbanization and modernization, high inflation and the commercialization of weddings.

More importantly, the parental obligation of helping sons financially to get married and the furious competition to "save face" in rural areas are the other reasons driving up bride price.

Policies to control high bride price and address the problems of men forced to stay single because they cannot pay the high bride price and wedding cost should be designed in such a way that they can meet the requirements of rural areas. And policies aimed at promoting gender equality, strengthening livelihood security and regulating housing prices should be given priority in national governance.

The author is a professor at the School of Public Policy and Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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