Monday, June 19, 2006

Market forces and female infanticide

Recently, it was reported that a scarcity of women in India has resulted in wife rental:

According to reports, prompted by a shortage of eligible single women, some poverty-stricken husbands in western India have gone to the extent of renting out their wives to other men on a monthly rate.
The local newspaper the Times of India reports that one man allowed his farm laborer wife, and mother of two, to stay with her boss for 8,000 rupees (175 dollars) a month. Many poor families and middlemen have also cashed in on the shortage of women by selling off their daughters to men in Gujarat, one of India's wealthiest states.

I wonder how long before girls are considered a long-term investment. With regard to societal change, perhaps this ongoing scarcity will result in the end of the traditional dowry that made daughters an economic liability instead of an asset.

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