Gulf | Bahrain
Bahraini men will receive incentive to get married
Bahrain would provide a marriage bonus of BD3,000 ($8,000) to Bahraini men under a proposal approved by a parliament panel.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 16:27 June 8, 2008
Manama: Bahrain would provide a marriage bonus of 3,000 dinars (about Dh29,352) to Bahraini men under a proposal approved by a parliament panel.
The proposal, submitted by five MPs from Al Wefaq, the largest bloc in the Lower House, stipulates that Bahrainis must marry Bahraini women to receive 3,000 dinars. The bonus is provided once and only to those who get married for the first time.
MPs Ali Salman, the head of Al Wefaq, Hassan Sultan, Makki Al Wadai, Haidar Al Sitri and Hamza Al Dairi said most young people in Bahrain find it increasingly difficult to get married because of the spiralling costs of living.
In their motion, the five MPs said the hike in the commodity prices and living costs have had negative effects on the ability to get married for the overwhelming majority of young people who cannot afford the fees associated with the marriage.
"Marriage is the leading shield against several social problems menacing family stability. The effects of high costs on the possibility of marriages demand that we must assume our responsibilities to help young people and eventually reduce social risks and limit the number of spinsters among Bahrainis," one of the MPs said in the report to the finance and economic affairs committee.
The motion will be debated by the Lower House after the summer recess.
Marriages are major social events in status-conscious Bahrain, with extravagant wedding bills and high dowry demands.
However, several Bahrainis, reluctant or unable to raise the sums required, opt to take foreign brides.
Wary of the seemingly inexorable rise in the number of spinsters, and seeking to help young couples who spend the first years of their marriage struggling to repay wedding loans, the government and several Islamist funds have been promoting mass weddings.
Last month, Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa attended a public wedding for 250 Shiite and Sunni couples.
"Mass weddings are a healthy phenomenon that deserves to be encouraged since it expands joy and happiness, boosts social cohesion and extends links between people and families," he said at the reception.
Charity funds, mainly in villages, have often organised mass weddings to cut costs and limit the number of spinsters in a country where the divorce rate is around 34 per cent.
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