California becomes 18th US state to ban child marriage
Each state establishes its own requirements, and some have set no minimum age for marriage
Each state establishes its own requirements, and some have set no minimum age for marriage
Each state establishes its own requirements, and some have set no minimum age for marriage
• California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a Bill to ban child marriage in the state.
• The Bill repeals provisions that allow a minor to enter into a marriage or domestic partnership with parental consent and sets the state’s minimum marriage and domestic partnership age at 18.
• In the US, there is no federal law regarding child marriage.
• Each state establishes its own requirements, and some have set no minimum age for marriage.
• In 2018, Delaware and New Jersey became the first states to outlaw marriage before age 18 with no exceptions, followed by:
• Minnesota and Pennsylvania in 2020.
• New York and Rhode Island in 2021.
• Massachusetts in 2022.
• Connecticut, Michigan and Vermont in 2023.
• New Hampshire, Virginia and Washington in 2024.
• Maine, Missouri and Oregon in 2025.
• Oklahoma in 2026.
• California becomes the 18th state in the country to ban child marriage.
What is child marriage? What are its driving factors?
• Child marriage is a social evil, and its commission is a criminal offence.
• Child marriage is the phenomenon of children being married before they attain the minimum legal age under the law. Globally, children continue – despite legal norms to the contrary – to be married before they reach the age of 18 years.
• Globally, one in every five girls is formally married or in an informal union, before reaching age 18.
• Patriarchy, gender inequality, poverty and lack of education and employment lead to child marriage.
• Child marriages persist due to societal perceptions and economic pressures. Investment in a girl’s education is frequently regarded as wasteful, leading some families to end schooling early and consider marriage instead. Poverty and structural inequalities, including gender, caste, and class, further drive child marriages.
• Many parents wish to marry their girl child early to guard against any aspersions on the girl’s virtue of virginity and to mitigate the economic costs associated with raising a child, payment of dowry and conducting a wedding.
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child regards child marriage as a violation of human rights.
• Elimination of child, early and forced marriages has been committed to by 193 nations, including India under target 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.