Transnational Marriage: An Economic Strategy for Poor Families

Tran Quang Lam, Management Sciences for Health, Vietnam

Since 2001, Vietnamese brides account for almost half of the foreign brides in Taiwan. In 2006, Vietnamese brides accounted for 85 percent of total 11,973 persons becoming new Taiwanese citizens. This study gives an overview of characteristics of Vietnamese brides and the reasons behind their decision. Research findings reveal that Vietnamese brides are more likely from poor families with more children, low education and low living standards. Marriage with Taiwanese is considered as an economic strategy for poor families to improve their economic conditions either through immediate support at the time of marriage or in the long-run. The findings show that more than 80% of parents expect economic support from their daughters’ marriages. The lower the parents’ education, the higher the expectation. This strategy proves to be quite effective by the fact that proportion of well-off families significantly increases from 8% to 47% when comparing before and after daughters’ marriages.