Here is the reality of the situation child. More or less half of the Pakistani population is poor based on the metric one uses (e.g. MCPI/ UN 2$ line).
None of the things I mentioned in my previous post were about curbing basic necessities, they were questioning as to, if women are open to lowering their living standards if they want to live in separate homes as opposed to a joint family. As previously stated the joint family presents a significantly more cost effective residential arrangement ..... thereby freeing cash to be spent elsewhere ...
Hence the contention ... Put your money where your mouth is ...
If the economic argument to live in a joint family is trash as you say ... then by all means leave those cost benefits and lower your living standards. That is ultimately the cost that one has to pay. Economics101, there is no such thing as a free meal.
Now if your going to say that you can just find someone who can maintain that level of living standard even while living alone... then going by the numbers, the average age for a Pakistani girl to get married is around 22-23. Someone whose earning a large and stable enough income to support the standard usually demanded is atleast 30 in the best case scenario, which is an age gap of atleast 7-8 years, not unheard of in the last generation, but definitely more frowned upon in the current one.Add to that the fact that economy is very unpredictable, you mess with one variable and suddenly everything is going berserk. Back in 2008 during the recession, Lehman brothers, General motors, CIT group, Chryslar etc. went bankrupt. Each company had assets worth OVER 40 BILLION US DOLLARS ... Bottom line .. nothing is for certain ... especially money ..
-Lastly, lemme give you a couple more things to think about since you "see the lives being destroyed".....
... Do look around and search for all those 27/28+ year olds who are struggling to get married because they and their families rejected the good offers made to them, because "the guy doesn't drive a Mercedes" ... Now that their physical beauty is on the decline .... add to that, the complications these women can face in terms of fertility etc. her chances of getting married grow slimmer and slimmer each day. So my question to you is ... what about them?
There is a reason why even after all the rights, the religion affords the individuals, it also says to make nikkah easy. So while we have alot to say about dowry, let's not ignore the unrealistic standards set by women and their families in terms of material, which benefits no one and ultimately comes back to haunt the same women setting those standards.