Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China

BACKGROUNDBrideprice -a transfer from the groom's to the bride's family as part of the marriage process -has been a prominent element of marriage and kinship systems in many societies.While brideprice has declined as many countries modernize, the amount of brideprice has increased in China. OBJECTIVEThis study examines how the meanings attributed to brideprice payments at the time of marriage shape brideprice repayments at the time of divorce, focusing on two frames of brideprice: an interfamily compensation for female labor and fertility, and an intergenerational endowment for the newlyweds.Wan: Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women's position in contemporary China CONTRIBUTIONThis study presents new data on brideprice payments and repayments, demonstrating that the two types of brideprice parallel in contemporary China.It also contributes to our understanding of how various factors influence the outcomes of brideprice return in court proceedings.Disputes over divorce: 3 million cases Keep divorce cases with complete information Keep cases involving brideprice disputes Keep brideprice cases where the divorce is granted Keep cases without missing information for independent variables Brideprice cases from divorce disputes (N = 59,678) Disputes over engagement property: 113,885 cases Keep engagement cases with complete information Keep cases where the marriage is unregistered Keep cases without missing information for independent variables Brideprice cases from engagement property disputes (N = 44,918) Brideprice data set (N = 104,596) 51% 16% 35% 69% 62% 80% 79%Notes: Each court decision is uniquely identified by three parameters: a case number assigned by the court when the case is accepted, court name, and judgment date.A court decision with complete information is defined as a case without missing any of the following components: litigant information, litigants' statements, recognized facts, court statements, and litigation outcomes.For brideprice cases from engagement property disputes, about 20% of the cases involve formally registered marriages.Couples in these cases had settled their divorces outside the court system, and brideprice repayment was the only dispute in the court proceedings.