Time to proscribe 'bride price' to help address 'bachelor problem'

By Kang Bing | China Daily | Updated: 2024-08-20 07:04

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A young couple poses for a photo at a marriage registration office of the Civil Affairs Bureau in Dongxing district of Neijiang city, Southwest China's Sichuan province, Feb 14, 2023. [Photo by Li Jianming/For China Daily]

The "bachelor problem" in rural areas has been a subject of heated online discussions since the publication of a study on the marriage situation of older single men in rural areas some months ago. The study, by a team from the Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province, found that single men in 42 percent of Chinese villages have trouble finding a spouse.

The report, I found out after further scrutiny, is based on a survey of 1,785 rural households from 119 villages in 26 provinces and regions. To me, the survey is based on a pretty small sample and the researchers reached a hasty conclusion. This is not advisable, especially when dealing with any subject, let alone a serious issue like the "bachelor problem" in rural areas. China has more than 2.5 million villages which are different in terms of environment, local culture and tradition. Yet I appreciate the survey team's efforts, and suggest the government departments to take the report as a starting point for further research on the issue.

The report has drawn widespread public attention because it echoes people's impression that more and more men are either choosing to not marry or cannot find a life partner, not only in rural areas but also in urban areas. The reason for that can perhaps be attributed to the country's male-female ratio of 104.49:100, which means there were more than 30.97 million more males in China's total population of more than 1.40 billion in 2023.

Although the gap between the male and female population has been narrowing over the past few years, it would take a long time for the country to achieve gender equality in terms of population ratio. Many villagers still want a son, because they believe only a male child can carry forward the family line, inherit the family business and take care of parents in the latter's old age.

As such, better social and medical insurance policies, as well as targeted eldercare services should be made available in rural areas to prevent villagers from excessively worrying about their well-being in advanced age. In fact, such insurance programs have been introduced, but the pension amount is relatively small — from less than 100 yuan ($13.95) to more than 1,000 yuan depending on the local government's financial capacity. The good news is that the central authorities have pledged to improve the rural social insurance program in terms of both quality and quantity.

Some district administrations have even established special match-making platforms to help single men in rural areas to find a life partner, with a few offering free "vocational training" to single men so they can earn more money, which would make it easier for them to find a life partner.

However, taking measures to reduce, if not altogether abolish, "bride price" would help single men more than vocational training in finding a life partner. Traditionally, before a couple tie the knot, the groom's side has to pay the bride's side "bride price" as a thank-you gift. In the past, the price could range from a goat to a few hundred kilograms of food grain.

Since the practice is against gender equality, China's laws prohibit the exchange of huge amounts of money or gifts at weddings. But the laws do not forbid "bride price", they only require the "bride price" to be fixed through mutual agreement. This is the loophole some parents of marriageable age women use to demand exorbitant amounts as "bride price" — a practice which had almost disappeared when I got married 40 years ago.

Now, a typical bride price in poorer rural areas of western China would be about 100,000 yuan while in the better-developed eastern region it could be about 300,000 yuan on average — equal to a rural family's three years' income. The fact that the high bride price, along with the fact that the groom's family has to build or purchase a house for the young couple, which many rural families cannot afford to do, leaves many marriageable-age sons single.

Perhaps it's time to review and revise, if necessary, some sections and clauses of the existing laws and abolish the "bride price" practice once and for all. And society as a whole should take all possible measures to solve the "bachelor problem" in rural areas.