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Until 1971, approximately 80% of states had a general marriage age of 18 for women, while for men the general marriage age was 21 in approximately 85% of states. [1] When at least one of the marriage partners is under the general marriage age, the marriage is considered underage.
9. Sherry Yvonne Johnson is an American activist who advocates for restrictions on child marriage in the United States. Johnson successfully campaigned for tighter restrictions on child marriage in her home state of Florida. Prior to 2018, pregnant children of any age in Florida could get married with a judge's permission.
An additional factor causing child marriage is the parental belief that early marriage offers protection. Parents feel that marriage provides their daughter with a sense of protection from sexual promiscuity and safe from sexually transmitted infections.
Parents may believe early marriage is in their daughter's best interest, especially if she's pregnant. But in all cases, girls who marry before age 18 are harmed for life. They're separated from their families and friends, and 50 percent more likely to drop out of school.
‘Early marriage’ refers to a marriage/union where a child is deemed an adult under the laws of that country (before the age of 18 or upon marriage). It can also refer to marriages where both partners are over the age of 18 but are unable to freely give consent to the marriage for another reason.
Early marriage has negative effects on multiple domains of women’s health, including their likelihood of closely spaced childbearing, long-term physical health, and mental health. Teenage mothers who marry either before or
economic concerns of families driving de facto marital rules since the Early Modern era. Historically, most cultures considered the age of puberty, and the capacity for reproduction, to be the guide for determining a minimum legal age to marry.
