The Government of Haryana, a state in northern India, promised to pay thousands of low-income, lower caste families $400 USD to keep their daughters unmarried for 18 years. The conditional cash transfer scheme backfired, however, as three-quarters of families used the funds to underwrite dowries and wedding costs for their daughter immediately after she turned 18. The International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), which evaluated the project, said it will take more than financial incentives to challenge deeply ingrained biases about young women and their value to society.

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