Document No.1 once again mentioned "solidly carrying out the special treatment of outstanding problems in key areas such as sky-high bride price, big exercise and big operation", which instantly heated up the recently controversial topic of "sky-high bride price" again. As netizens said, the "bad social atmosphere such as sky-high bride price" that has entered the field of document No.1 governance since 20 19 is now particularly emphasized, which is actually a proof that the governance effect is not significant.
From Pingxiang18.88 million bride price in Jiangxi Province to "880,000 bride price forcing people to die" in Leping, Jiangxi Province, although it turned out to be just a "fictional story" fabricated by people with ulterior motives in order to attract attention, in the face of the real feelings of a large number of people, the sky-high bride price still triggered a continuous hot discussion and was recognized by many as a major obstacle for young people to get married.
In this context, this year's No.1 document, even if it only continues the practice of previous years, will include "solidly carrying out special treatment of outstanding problems in key areas such as high-priced bride price and big-scale operation", which will also attract more attention than before. From the root, it is still the social reality reflected behind the bride price. After all, this is the only "life-saving straw" that single young men who are interested in marrying but can't come up with too many colorful gifts can seize.
Undoubtedly, many rural areas started with a high-priced bride price of166,000 yuan and188,000 yuan. Although the amount is not astronomical, it does bring a lot of pressure to some male families. After all, in 2022, the per capita income of national residents was only 36,883 yuan, and that of rural residents was only 20 133 yuan. The bride price of nearly 200,000 yuan alone is worth the income of a rural resident for nearly 10 years. In contrast, the bride price is really eye-catching.
But then again, as a marriage custom in China since ancient times, this custom that the man gives the bride price to the woman when the marriage agreement is initially reached can still be continued among the people after many obstacles, which shows that it has a deep social foundation and public opinion foundation, is a part of the traditional customs in China, and is by no means a "bad habit" that many people hate today.
The bride price should be the custom of marriage and family according to their abilities, but in the highly developed society of commodity economy, it has gradually evolved into a fixed value of comparing with each other and clearly marking the price. At best, it is a performance of keeping pace with the times, and there is not much ugliness. Indeed, from 20 17 to 1 tangyin county, Henan Province, the tragedy of "the groom hammered the bride to death on the wedding night because of the sky-high bride price" occurred, but it was the extreme of a few extremes after all.
The sky-high bride price has been included in the rectification category for many years, but it has not achieved the immediate effect of rectifying housing prices. It can be seen that this thing actually has a deep social foundation. Even if it is controversial from the standpoint of the man's family, it seems that the amount of bride price rises with the overall development level of society, just as we can't make prices and house prices return to the truth 30 years ago through rectification.
The sky-high bride price can be popular in today's marriage, which shows that the starting price of hundreds of thousands seems high, but it is not high. This money is only the price of a domestic scooter. In most counties, except for the truly astronomical bride price, I am afraid it is only enough to pay the down payment on the mortgage. Is it easier to accept the bride price from this perspective?
What does the bride price mean to ordinary people in today's society? In my opinion, the appearance of sky-high bride price is actually a material manifestation of the excessive pressure of social survival. I believe that the attitude of most families towards bride price is to ensure that their daughters' future life will be smoother and less tired, which is why the more ordinary families give bride price, the less requirements wealthy families encounter in this regard.
The bride price reflects the economic strength of a family. Only families who can pay a certain bride price can afford the buildings above the township houses and the scooters to ensure travel, so that life can be less difficult and the daily fetters of "but not as those who have been poor together know" can be avoided.
There may be cases where a daughter's bride price is regarded as family property, or a daughter's bride price is used to find a daughter-in-law for her son, but I believe this is not the mainstream. The mainstream bride price is getting higher and higher, and the fundamental reason is that the wealth accumulation of ordinary families is too slow and life is too tired. The expenses of buying a house, educating children, supporting the elderly at home and paying medical tax are too heavy, which makes people have to fight for some protection for their daughters.
Document No.1 has repeatedly mentioned the "sky-high bride price", which shows our determination to rectify. With our social mobilization ability, it is entirely possible to put an end to the sky-high bride price on the surface, but it is unlikely to really put an end to the sky-high bride price under the table. At least, it is almost unrealistic to solve the bride price problem until the problems of housing price education, medical care and old-age care are really solved.
In the final analysis, the root of the problem of sky-high bride price is not the bride price custom itself, but at best it is a symbol of the social development stage, and it is impossible to solve the problem by controlling the bride price problem itself. If we can solve the contradiction that everyone is overburdened and their income is too low, and the young couple can live a down-to-earth life on their wages, who will care about the level of bride price?
As netizens wrote, "Walking with an umbrella", the expression of "rectifying the sky-high bride price" itself shows that the hand of public power has been stretched too long and has reached the field of folk customs, and folk customs naturally have to be adjusted by the people themselves.
"The marriage rate is low, the fertility rate has dropped sharply, and the population problem is severe. Instead of starting with education, medical care, housing and social welfare, we will effectively improve people's livelihood, but rectify the bride price. This is the same as encouraging buying a house. The interest rates of various mortgage loans are reduced, and the purchase restriction is cancelled, that is, the price is not reduced. " The comments of netizens about his name are worth pondering. In his view, only when the whole people enjoy the fruits of social development will the bride price problem be solved.
It's hard to support yourself as much as possible. How can young people get married and have children? It is not objective to blame the pot that young people don't want to get married on the sky-high bride price
The issue of bride price is controversial, but it is only superficial. As China Women's Daily said, "No matter how urgent the mood of governance is, we should look for deep-seated reasons and conduct a comprehensive analysis. You can't blindly aim at the target and rush to the hospital. " "The fundamental solution needs to focus on deep-seated reasons, starting with employment, people's livelihood, rural style shaping, demonstration and guidance."
It is easy to regard high-priced bride price as an obstacle or even the only obstacle that affects young people's willingness to get married, while ignoring the social problems behind it.