Marrying Rich

Marrying rich was considered completely normal in our society just a few decades ago, because people wanted to secure their family's survival, move up socially and finally escape poverty. In the Western world, however, things have changed. In other parts of the world, in other cultures, marrying rich is sometimes still the goal.
How this has played out historically and today, and what causes it, is discussed below.

Money Instead of Love?

For many centuries it was entirely normal for the poor to try to move up socially. In most cases, though, the rich stayed among themselves in the end, and so did the poor. But sometimes women from the middle class managed to rise into the nobility and so secure a better life for themselves, their families and their descendants. Love as we know it, meaning affection, romance and feelings, has only been the main reason couples marry for a few decades. Even today, though, marrying rich out of hardship is commonplace. For example in Eastern Europe, at so-called bride markets among discriminated ethnic groups. The wealth the people there possess is enormous from the point of view of the poor, but relative from our point of view. Even if marrying rich sounds questionable, it can help some people in hardship. Even if relationships of dependency continue to exist.

Marrying Rich Even When You Are Wealthy Yourself? A Case Study

The wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in early summer 2018 is remembered not only because of the incredible media interest. Nor necessarily because a commoner married into the British royal family. It is remembered in particular because Meghan Markle was already a very successful and wealthy actress in the USA before marrying Prince Harry. So a rich person married a rich person and gained much more nonetheless. Meghan Markle benefits above all from her new fame and her reach, which today is almost equivalent to money. The wedding was of course not arranged but happened out of love. Even so, it brings added value for Meghan Markle.

Other Cultures, Other Customs
As already mentioned, marrying rich is in some cases completely normal in other cultures. This is almost always justified by the fact that it can secure the survival of one's own family. There are questionable marriages that come about through the parents' choice. That, however, is the culture and part of the tradition of a given people. Through globalization and the empowerment strengthened by the internet, romantic love is increasingly understood as the only true love. For families with many children, where the children are the only hope for a future, marrying rich mostly remains one of the most popular options.