Irem 
One of my Khalu’s (Sajid Khalu) is from this very exact area; i have met his family, his nephews/nieces, his siblings, and his siblings’ inlaws. i have got to know my Khalu’s mother (who lives in the village). They are all Seraikis; infact, Khalu was trying to teach me Seraiki when he found out i wanted to learn it. i sat in his library each morning, turned on the fan, and would pick up one of his numerous language books and he would try to teach me Seraiki. i was pretty good at it too, or so everyone told me um ahem. :o ah i miss those days.
Khair… my point is, that i have got to know their family and extended family members pretty well… better than i know some of my relatives here in Canada. Khalu’s background is not from an “upper class” family, they are working class or i guess what you described in your post as from one of the “lower income groups”. Alhamdulillah, my Khala is totally taken care of financially. With my own eyes, i have seen how Khalu takes care of her and their two children (my first cousins). Infact, he transferred the ownership and title/deed of the house and their entire property, land and everything, into Khala’s name… :~/ The relationship is not one-sided; Alhamdulillah it’s 50-50. Actually IF anything, Khala has gotten off quite easy with her marriage… if i think about it, hmm, Khala married a Seraiki, and one of my Mamoos married a Punjabi - and these two couples are two of the most stable marriages in my khandaan Masha’Allah. (As you already know, we are Mohajirs). Food for thought, like i always tell my Ammi - it’s only those family members who married Mohajirs, who ended up with the more unstable/unhappier relationships. That doesn’t ‘mean’ anything - but one thing: that you can never, ever tell what someone is like, even general characteristics, from one’s ethnic background. It is literally impossible because everyone is so unique.
What i have observed of males from this area that you refer to - Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, etc. - is that they are, if anything, fiercely loyal towards their families and give an equal share within their marriage (if not more). One more personal example i can give - my Khalu has one younger brother who lives in the gaon. Jab unnkay bhai kai rishtay kai baaray mai baat ho rahi thi, his brother found out about this one widow in the area who had one daughter from a previous marriage; the husband had passed away and the widow was struggling to raise her daughter by herself. You know what he did? My Khalu’s brother married the widow (even though there is so much stigma against them especially whatwith one child already from a previous marriage) and last year, this daughter had her marriage ‘dhoom dhaam sai’ (as they say) in Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel. You can’t tell that she is not the biological daughter of this man, he has raised her with so much love and respect. He’s one of the sweetest, most caring men Masha’Allah; she is truly Blessed to have a father like him.
Khair i guess my point is just that… from what i have observed about social customs from this area, they are generally quite positive. My Khalu is the eldest in his family and he is totally committed to his family and extended family; if he dared to even THINK about taking a second wife, he’d get jootay from the rest of the family. ‘Mehmaan nawaazi’ bahaut zaida hai with them… my Ammi used to say this as well, that hospitality and generosity is massively practiced amongst my Khalu’s khandaan. i’m afraid i can’t say the same about my family background, because in reality it just does not apply. If you go there as a guest, you are treated as a guest - i have felt this myself first-hand because i was considered a guest and was totally given every courtesy and hospitable gesture i could have wanted, even though they didn’t have much materially but that never decreased their inner generosity. So if anything, i guess what this proves is that every ethnic group is entirely unique - what you may have observed, can totally apply to, for example, Mohajirs. It could apply to any ethnic group. It is not exclusive to the Seraiki belt area or the regions you specifically mentioned. hmmm waisay i think from my anthro classes i’ve learned that each culture possesses its unique intrinsic value; how we view it, depends upon the glasses we are wearing to study the ‘other’ culture.
Okay i’ll stop blabbing, i know i get boring :o :o Just wanted to share that… 
i just wanted to point out that - each and every culture, and the individual members within that culture, are extremely unique. It is impossible, IMHO, to generalize about any group, just the same as it would have been 100% irrational for my Mamoo to generalize about Punjabis and my Khala to generalize about all Multani men. Alhamdulillah they did not; for that, Mamoo got a wonderful, wonderful wife and Khala is married to a man who loves and respects her unconditionally. i shudder to think which idiot they’d be married to right now within the khandaan, had they not chosen to be open-minded. :~/ (May Allah keep their marriages always prosperous, peaceful and happy Insha’Allah aur nazar na lagay).
eek now i’ll really shut up :o
Sorry :o