Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.
Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative consequences for child brides and grooms. Girls who marry as children often lack access to education and future career opportunities. The rate of child marriages can also be reduced by strengthening rural communities' education systems. Rural development programs that provide basic infrastructure, including healthcare, clean water, and sanitation, may aid families financially. Child marriages have historically been common and continue to be widespread, particularly in developing nations in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, Latin and North America, and Oceania. However, developed nations also face a lack of protections for children. In the United States, for instance, child marriage is still legal in 34 states. Although the age of majority (legal adulthood) and marriage age are typically 18 years old, these thresholds can differ in different jurisdictions. It is an internationally recognized health and human rights violation disproportionately affecting girls, globally. It is described by experts as torture; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and contrary to human rights.
Child marriage has been decreasing in prevalence in most of the world. UNICEF data from 2018 showed that about 21% of young women worldwide (aged 20 to 24) were married as children. This shows a 25% decrease from 10 years prior. The countries with the highest known rates of child marriages were Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Nepal, all of which had rates above 50% between 1998 and 2007. In the US from 2000 to 2015, there were more than 200 thousand marriages of minors.<!-- Opportunity to update content -->
History
thumb|In 1533, 17-year-old Princess [[Emilia of Saxony was wed to George the Pious, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, then aged 48 years. Early marriages have been common in historical times, including in Europe.]]
thumb|Presentation of [[Marie Antoinette to Dauphin Louis Auguste at Versailles, before their marriage – she was at age 15, he was 16 – on 16 May 1770]]
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, women around the world were often married at an early age, usually soon after reaching puberty. These practices carried over well into the 19th century in societies with largely rural populations. Men tended to marry later in societies where a married couple was expected to establish a household of their own. This encouraged men to remain unmarried until they accumulated sufficient wealth to support a new home and marry adolescent girls.
In many ancient and medieval societies, it was common for girls to be betrothed at or even before the age of puberty. According to Mordechai A. Friedman, "arranging and contracting the marriage of a young girl were the undisputed prerogatives of her father in Ancient Israel." Most girls were married before the age of 15, often at the start of puberty. It has been claimed that in the Middle Ages, marriage took place around puberty throughout the Jewish world.
writes, "The numerous references to child marriage in the 16th-century Responsa literature and other sources shows that child marriage was so common, it was virtually the norm. In this context, it is important to remember that in halakha, the term "minor" refers to a girl under twelve years and a day old. A girl aged twelve and a half was considered an adult in all respects."
In Ancient Greece, early marriage and teenage motherhood for girls existed. Boys were also expected to marry in their teens. In the Roman Empire, girls were married at the age of 12 and boys from the age of 14. In the Middle Ages, under English civil laws derived from Roman laws, marriages before the age of 16 existed. In Imperial China, child marriage was the norm.
In contrast to other pre-modern societies—and for reasons that are subject to debate—Northwest Europe was characterized by relatively late marriages for both men and women, with both sexes commonly delaying marriage until their mid-20s, although the very wealthy, especially aristocrats, married earlier, but they were a minority of the population. The data available for England suggest this was the case by the 14th century. The pattern was reflected in English Common Law, which was the first in Western Europe to establish statutory rape laws and ages of consent for marriage. In 1275, sexual relations with girls under either 12 or 14 (depending on the interpretation of the sources) were criminalized; a second law with more severe punishments for those under the age of 10 was enacted in 1576. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British colonial administration introduced marriage age restrictions for Hindu and Muslim girls in the Indian subcontinent.
For the latter half of the 19th century, between 13 and 18% of native-born white female first marriages in the United States were of girls under the age of 18.
Religious norms and laws
Most religions practiced throughout history have established a minimum age for marriage.
By the beginning of the 21st century, most countries had enacted laws establishing the general minimum age for marriage at 18 years. However, in many of these countries, some exceptions allowed marriage before this age with the consent of the parents and/or by court decision. In some countries, a religious marriage is still recognized by the state authorities, while in others, a registered civil marriage is mandatory.
Christianity
Christian canon law forbade the marriage of a girl before the onset of puberty. Within the Catholic Church, before the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the minimum age for a dissoluble betrothal (') was seven years in the s. The minimal age for a valid marriage was puberty, or nominally 14 for males, and 12 for females. The 1917 Code of Canon Law raised the minimal age for a valid marriage to 16 for males, and 14 for females. The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintained the minimal age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.