Definition:
The economic aspects of marriage which involve material transaction before or after the marriage are known as marriage finances.
Explanation:
Marriage finances occur in almost all societies. According to the saying of a German peasant: “it is not a man that marries maid, but field marries field, vineyard marries vineyard, cattle marry cattle” There is much truth in this saying if we examine the marriage procedures of different societies in different parts of the world. This indicates that in many societies, marriage involves economic considerations.
Marriage finances involve certain material transactions otherwise known as marriage payments – In some societies the marriage payments are made before or after the marriage; in some before the marriage; and in some only after the marriage. In some, they are paid in full at one point of time; in others they are paid in installments, In some societies, they are paid over long period of time; and in some they are paid over a small period of time. in some societies like the Bavenda of Africa, the marriage finances vary according to the nature of right that a groom acquires over the bride. But in other societies, marriage finances comprise a package to be paid at a time. However, in all societies, apart from the marriage finances there are certain gifts to be exchanged by both the parties after concluding the marriage. Thus marriage finances comprise a complex phenomenon with its own implications to the parties concerned.
Forms:
The marriage finances take various forms:
- Bride wealth.
- Bride Service,
- Exchange of women.
- Gift Exchange and Presentation and
- Dowry.
The following diagram depicts the forms of marriage finances flowing between the groom’ s group and bride ‘ s group.
Frequency:
According to the survey conducted by Murdock (1957: “world’s Ethnographic Sample”, American Anthropologist. 59: 664-687), the frequencies of various forms of marriage finances are as follows:
| SI.NO | Marriage finance | Frequency(542) | ||
| number | percentage | |||
| 1 | Bride-price a)Substantial bride –price b)Token bride -price | 247 13 | 45.57% 2.40% | |
| 2 | Bride Service | 75 | 13.34% | |
| 3 | Dowry | 24 | 4.43% | |
| 4 | women Exchange | 16 | 2.95% | |
| 5 | women Exchange | 15 | 2.77% | |
| 6 | No information on marriage payments | 152 | 28.04% | |
| TOTAL | 542 | 100.00% | ||
Recently Alice Schlegel and Rohn Eloul (1988: “Marriage Transactions: Labor, Property and Status” American Anthropologist. 90: page 295) studied marriage payments in a carefully drawn worldwide sample of 186 societies. Of these 186 societies, about 75% practiced one or more marriage transactions. Among the 75% societies, 44% practiced bride-price, almost 19% resorted to bride-service, 6% adopted exchange of societies and about 8% paid dowries.