China cracks down on ‘bride prices’ to boost birth rates

China is cracking down on skyrocketing “bride prices” in a bid to tackle plunging birth rates. 

Under the ancient tradition – dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC to 771 BC) – a prospective groom pays the bride’s family to show his sincerity and wealth, similar to a dowry. Bride prices are widespread across much of South Asia. 

However, in recent years payments have hit all-time highs – averaging $20,000 in some provinces – and making marriage increasingly unaffordable. 

Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades and its rapidly ageing population, officials are introducing a raft of policies to usher in a “new era” of marriage and childbearing.

Local governments have begun rolling out propaganda campaigns instructing unmarried women not to compete with one another in demanding the highest prices. Some town officials have imposed caps and directly intervened in private negotiations between families, according to the New York Times.

In Daijiapu, a town in southeast China, officials recently gathered women at a local civic building to sign a public pledge to reject high “bride prices”. A sign hung at the front of the room read: “Symposium of unmarried young women of the right age.”

The local government, describing the event on its website, said it hoped people would abandon such backward customs and do their part to “start a new civilised trend”.

Egg freezing and IVF

Cutting bride prices is just one of the projects that China’s Family Planning Association, a national body that implements the government’s population and fertility measures, is trialling in more than 20 cities in a bid to grow the nation’s population. Another will encourage parents to share child-rearing responsibilities. 

Earlier measures introduced by Chinese provinces include tax incentives, housing subsidies, and free or subsidised education for having a third child.

In March, the government’s political advisers proposed that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment, among other services to boost the country’s fertility rate.

“The society needs to guide young people more on the concept of marriage and childbirth,” demographer He Yafu told the Global Times.

However, the campaign has drawn criticism, with commenters on Chinese social media platforms questioning why the burden of solving the problem is falling on women.

Recent fertility-boosting measures have also failed to deliver, with some women saying the policies do not effectively address the expense of childcare. Meanwhile, many women have decided against having children due to societal pressure to stop their careers.

China implemented a rigid one-child policy from 1980 until 2015 – the root of many of its demographic challenges that have allowed India to become the world’s most populous nation. The limit has since been raised to three children.

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