How 'Bride Prices' Causing Concerns For China's Fast-Declining Population

BEIJING: China is prioritising ending the exorbitant "bride prices" practice in a desperate attempt to encourage its married citizens to have more children to prop up the fast-declining population rate, reported Insideover. According to a recent survey, unmarried young people over 30 are widespread in China. Many young men and women in cities choose to be single, while many young men in rural areas are eliminated from the marriage market, reported Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website.

Federico Giuliani writing in Insideover said that China has an unenviable challenge at hand in the form of discouraging would-be brides from charging exorbitant "bride prices" unable to pay which prospective grooms are backing out of marriage. Bride money has emerged as a social ill and the communist government has launched campaigns, for example, in several cities and prefectures in east China`s Jiangxi province, famous for bridal money, to make young women refuse the local custom.

Videos that have gone viral show dozens of women, possibly in their 20s and 30s, making vows that they do not ask for cars, houses, or plenty of cash when they get married. The move is aimed at eliminating obstacles to marriages for higher birth rates. China's population is shrinking for the first time in more than six decades in 2022, which is a serious demographic crisis for the country with significant implications for its slowing economy, CNN Business reported.

According to data surveyed in late January last month show that unmarried youths over the age of 30 are very common among men and women. China unveiled its key policy document or No. 1 central document for 2023 recently, vowing to launch a special campaign against problems including exorbitant "bride prices" and extravagant wedding ceremonies as part of nationwide efforts to strengthen the construction of public cultural-ethical standards in the country`s rural areas, reported Giuliani.

The "bride price" has risen from a token amount to very high levels, particularly in poorer areas, and the nature of the traditional custom has changed a lot over the years. Some families in rural areas or low-income families are forced to exhaust their entire savings to get their sons married. 

Some young couples, once in a good relationship, have fallen out over high betrothal prices, and some have broken up, reported Insideover. The imbalance of the male-to-female ratio, especially in rural areas, partially due to the concept of families preferring sons over daughters. The problem is so highly manifest in China now that the government is worried if it is allowed to continue and males do not have the financial capacity to marry, that may negatively impact the already declining population, said Giuliani.