Where is arranged marriage practiced today

In the U. In India, where some estimate that 90 percent of marriages are arranged, the divorce rate is only 1 percent. Are low divorce rates a sign that arranged marriages work? Or just a sign that those involved in them are also the type of people who are, for one reason or another, unlikely to file for divorce?

The closer you look at the world of modern arranged marriages, the clearer it is that things have changed—but only for some. Far from being a novel approach to matrimony, these sites are a natural extension of how things have been done in India for decades.

But perhaps the biggest change is how some young people are given in their arrangement. While we traditionally think of an arranged marriage to mean showing up at the altar to meet your spouse for the first time, the modern take has more negotiation. While the family influence is still key—and indeed, it is often the family choosing the potential partner—some people are given a power of veto.

This is not only the case in the west, where immigrant parents may have children more resistant to such arrangements. Some arranged marriages can be planned even while the bride and groom are still infants.

The purpose of arranged marriages is for families to be selective of who their children marry as a way to control familial relations and extensions. Some arranged marriages are also seen as some symbolic step in cementing mergers and partnerships in politics, business, wealth, and even status. Arranged marriages are also a way for families to maintain or elevate social class and maintain reputations.

In these cases, couples may even cite their arranged marriage as the spark that started it all. There is no "uniform" way to participate in an arranged marriage — like any other relationship, the practice can take a number of forms and can look incredibly different from couple to couple.

And as is true for any matrimony, an arranged marriage takes work, patience, and mutual respect in order to thrive. There is no "right way" to get married, just as there's no "right way" to be a couple.

Here are six places in the world where practicing arranged marriages is traditional. With roots as early as the Vedic period, approximately — BCE arranged marriages have deep roots in Indian culture. There are a number of factors that go into marriage arrangements, from religious identity to career path to even astrological compatibility.

According to a IPSOS survey of 1, Indian people across ten cities, ages , 75 percent of Indians surveyed reported preferring arranged marriages , which is incredibly close to the national average of 74 percent. In the past 30 years, the average age for a woman to marry has risen from There are differences based on where women live.

For example, in rural regions the average age of marriage was Women's participation in the labor force also fell over roughly the same period -- between , the labor force participation rate of urban women aged from 15 to 19 was per 1,, according to government data.

Less than a decade later, that figure had dropped to 89 per 1, There are different theories for that, including a weaker job market. But one of the reasons is that more Indian women are staying in education for longer. Some are then going onto university and gaining degrees, which gives them more options beyond getting married.

Young Indian couples are now meeting online and spending more time getting to know each other before getting married. Women have more control of their own lives," according to Nisha Khanna, a New Delhi-based psychologist and marriage counselor. Women are becoming more assertive, whether it's in terms of needs of physical intimacy or financial matters. They're becoming more outspoken, they're becoming more equal," she said.

Maybe never. Mira, the young New Delhi lawyer, is not sure if she'll ever marry. She says her perspective on marriage -- and life more broadly -- changed when she left home for the city, where she met people from different backgrounds and castes. Mira's family is from Amritsar, a small city in the northern state of Punjab. They hold the traditional view that young women should settle down and start a family. Even small things like running the house or making sure things are in order, those things are ingrained in me," Mira said.

She said she was brought up to want to get married, but is now "unlearning" that expectation.