Monday, October 12, 2009

Indian Women Want Toilets

No, this isn't bathroom humor. Go see a really interesting article about the drive to get home toilets in rural India. Women are demanding potential husbands install toilets before agreeing to marry them.

Courtesy of The Washington Post, the article shows the influence of supply and demand on the marriage mate "market" in India. Decades of aborting female fetuses in favor of male fetuses has created a shortage of marriageable young women.

As classical economics would suggest, a shortage creates the ability to demand more in return. A similar situation is likely to occur in China, not necessarily with respect to toilets but with the demand for wives outstripping the supply of young women.