California becomes 18th US state to ban child 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.