A recent Gilani poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan shows that, dowry appears to be an essential part of marriages as cited by 82% of the respondents, 14% do not believe that and 4% gave no response. It is also believed that girls can not easily get married without dowry (67%) whereas 23% believe this is not the case and 10% were unsure or gave no response. There is a slight difference of views across various language groups. The view that dowry is essential is less than the national average among Pushto speaking population; 43% of those with Pushto as mother tongue hold this view as compared with 67% of respondents with Urdu and Sindhi as mother tongues, and nearly 60% of those with Punjabi as mother tongue.

The recent Gilani poll was conducted in Pakistan by Gallup Pakistan, affiliated with Gallup International Association, among a sample of 2755 men and women from rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country, during January 2010.