Whether India has been experiencing dowry inflation has been a subject of lively debate, both in popular and academic discussions on dowry.2 In this blog, we assess whether and how dowry payments have changed over time and across states, castes, and religion in rural India using data on roughly 40,000 marriages that took place during 1960-2008. However, little is known about the evolution of dowry in recent decades that have witnessed remarkable economic and social change. Dowry per marriage often amounts to several years of household income and imposes a substantial burden on girls’ families. In this article we focus on rural India, where dowry remains a widespread phenomenon despite being illegal since 19611-according to the 2006 Rural Economic and Demographic Survey (REDS), dowry was paid in 95 percent of marriages during 1960-2008.
The ancient custom of dowry, that is, bride-to-groom transfers at the time of marriage, remains ubiquitous in several countries.
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