Child marriage

Child marriage is a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, between a child and an adult, or between a child and another child.[1]

Although the age of majority (legal adulthood) and marriage age are typically 18 years old, these thresholds can differ in different jurisdictions.[2] In some regions, the legal age for marriage can be as young as 14, with cultural traditions sometimes superseding legal stipulations. Additionally, jurisdictions may allow marriages younger than the stipulated age where specific exceptions, such as parental or guardian consent, or anomalous events, such as teenage pregnancy,[3] exist.

Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative consequences for child brides and grooms.[4][2] Girls who marry as children often lack access to education and future career opportunities.[4] It is also common for them to have adverse health effects resulting from early pregnancy and childbirth.[2] Effects on child grooms may include the economic pressure of providing for a household and various constraints in educational and career opportunities.[2]

Child marriage is part of the practice of child betrothal, often including civil cohabitation and a court-approval of the engagement.[5][6] Some factors that encourage child marriages include poverty, bride price, dowries, cultural traditions, religious and social pressure, regional customs, fear of the child remaining unmarried into adulthood, illiteracy, and the perceived inability of women to work.[7][8][9]

Research indicates that comprehensive sex education can prevent child marriages.[10] 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.[11]

Child marriages have historically been common and continue to be widespread, particularly in developing nations in Africa,[12][13] South Asia,[14] Southeast Asia,[15][16] West Asia,[17][18] Latin America,[17] and Oceania.[19] However, developed nations also face this issue. Legal exceptions still allow the marriage of children in 40 US states.[20][21]

Child marriage has been decreasing in prevalence in most parts 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.[22] 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.[23] According to studies conducted between 2003 and 2009, the marriage rate of girls under 15 years old was greater than 20% in Niger, Chad, Bangladesh, Mali, and Ethiopia.[24][25] Each year, an estimated 12 million girls globally are married under the age of 18.[26]

In 2021, 13.3 million babies, or about 10% of all global births, were born to mothers aged under 20 years old.[27]

  1. ^
    • Gastón, Colleen Murray; Misunas, Christina; Cappa (2019). "Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data". Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 14 (3): 219–228. doi:10.1080/17450128.2019.1566584.
    • "Child marriage". UNICEF. March 2020.
    • "Child Marriage". icrw.org.
    • "Child Marriage – Rationale, Historical Views, And Consequences". WorldAtlas. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Gastón, Colleen Murray; Misunas, Christina; Cappa (2019). "Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data". Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 14 (3): 219–228. doi:10.1080/17450128.2019.1566584.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nour child marriage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Parsons, Jennifer; Edmeades, Jeffrey; Aslihan, Kes; Petroni, Suzanne; Sexton, Maggie; Wodon, Quentin (2015). "Economic Impacts of Child Marriage: A Review of the Literature". The Review of Faith & International Affairs. 13 (3): 12–22. doi:10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757. hdl:10.1080/15570274.2015.1075757. S2CID 146194521.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cohabitation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference cohabitteen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Child marriage". UNICEF. March 2020.
  8. ^ "Child Marriage". icrw.org.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference africachild was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ International technical guidance on sexuality education: an evidence-informed approach (PDF). Paris: UNESCO. 2018. p. 13. ISBN 978-92-3-100259-5.
  11. ^ Fatima, Sana (19 January 2023). "Rural Development and Education: Critical Strategies for Ending Child Marriages". Archives of the Social Sciences: A Journal of Collaborative Memory. 1 (1). Pakistan: 1–15. SSRN 4329240.
  12. ^ "Africa: Child Brides Die Young". AllAfrica.
  13. ^ "Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage" (PDF). UNFPA. p. 23.
  14. ^ Early Marriage, Child Spouses UNICEF, See section on Asia, page 4 (2001)
  15. ^ "Southeast Asia's big dilemma: what to do about child marriage?". Plan International Australia. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  16. ^ "IRIN Asia – PHILIPPINES: Early marriage puts girls at risk – Philippines – Gender Issues – Health & Nutrition – Human Rights". The New Humanitarian. 26 January 2010.
  17. ^ a b "Child Brides – Child Marriage: What We Know". PBS. 12 October 2007.
  18. ^ "Child marriage still an issue in Saudi Arabia". San Francisco Chronicle. 14 March 2010.
  19. ^ "Early Marriage, Child Spouses" (PDF). UNICEF. p. 5. (See section on Oceania.)
  20. ^ Oladipo, Gloria (12 July 2023). "Michigan governor signs 'overdue' laws that aim to end child marriage". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Connecticut becomes the 9th state to outlaw child marriage". www.wbur.org. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Child Marriage: Latest trends and future prospects". UNICEF DATA. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference unicef12a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Child brides – For poorer, most of the time The Economist (28 February 2011)
  25. ^ Child Marriage Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Ford Foundation (2011)
  26. ^ "Child brides call on U.S. states to end 'legal rape'". Reuters. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  27. ^ United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. World Population Prospects 2022. Summary of Results (PDF). New York.