Childhood Marriage

Approximately 650 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthdays — and hundreds of thousands of them were married in the United States. While the minimum age of marriage in most states is technically 18, every state — excluding Delaware and New Jersey — has legal exceptions that allow children younger than 18 to be married. In these states, a child may be married with a judge’s permission, parental consent, or if a child is pregnant or has given birth. In some states, two or more of these conditions must be met for a child to be able to be married, but in no state is a child’s consent required for him or, more likely, her to be married.

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