End Child Marriage in the US

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When 15-year-old Jennifer’s family and religious community forced her to live with a man 12 years older than she was, and to marry him two years later, she recounts how she was treated like a slave. “He raped me, beat me, deprived me of sleep, food, and education. I had no way out,” she shared. 

Between 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 children in the US were married, many of them to adult men. The resulting sexual relationships constituted statutory rape. Until 2018, every state in the US had an exception allowing minors to marry before 18 with parental consent or judicial approval. As of August 2023, nine states have raised the absolute minimum age to 18: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

But child marriage is still legal in 41 states. 

It is well-documented that girl children who marry are often abused, deprived of education, give birth to babies with physical and cognitive problems because the girls are not physically mature, and they endure lives of poverty. As minors, they are unable to escape from these marriages because they can’t get a job, an apartment, a bank account, or even a place in a women’s shelter. 

Actions

1. Email your state lawmakers today

Time: 10 minutes 

Ask your state lawmakers to end child marriage in your state. 

1. Look at the list above to see if your state already bans child marriage. 
2. Find your state senator and representative online here.
3. Use or modify our email template to send to your lawmakers. 

Learn more 

• Child Marriage in the US: Survivor Story Compilation, Tahirih Justice Center — A report on 20 survivors of child marriage. 

Child Marriage in the U.S.

Child marriage is something we think about as happening only in far-off nations. However, between the years 2000 and 2018, nearly 300,000 children were married in the US, many of them to adult men. Until 2018, every state in the US had an exception allowing minors to marry before 18 with parental consent or judicial approval. Six states have now raised the absolute minimum age to 18: Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. This means that child marriage is currently legal in 44 states.

Where does child marriage occur?

Child marriage occurs in almost every U.S. state. Nevada has the most married children on a per-capita basis, while Texas leads in sheer numbers of children who are married.

Who is getting married?

Some children get married as young as 10 years old. The majority of child marriages involve girls aged 16 or 17. About 86% of child marriages in the US involve female children. These girls are most often married to adult men – relationships that violate statutory rape laws but marriage makes the sexual relationship legal. In fact, many child marriages occur to avoid these laws or to protect rapists.

Why are children marrying?

As in many parts of the world, the reasons for child marriages in the US are often cultural or religious; the American families follow conservative Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or other traditions, and judges sometimes feel that they shouldn’t intrude on other cultures.

Young girls also are often pressured into marriage after they become pregnant. They often feel powerless to object and they are afraid to tell a judge that they do not want to marry.

What problems arise with child marriage?

Girls who get married as children are more likely to be beaten by their spouses than women who marry over age 21. They are significantly more likely to live in poverty and drop out of highschool or college at higher rates. Additionally, girls who marry under the age of 18 are 50% more likely to be victims of physical or sexual violence by a partner in their life.

Long-term health is also affected. Women who marry at 18 or younger face a 23% higher risk of heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and stroke than do women who marry between ages 19 and 25. Girls who marry young are also at increased risk for psychiatric disorders.

Children who marry are often trapped – they can’t get a job, a car, a driver’s license, or sign a lease. Domestic abuse shelters can’t accept minors and children’s shelters often must inform parents of their child’s location, so girls attempting to flee abusive relationships have nowhere to go.

What are states doing about it?

In New Hampshire, Girl Scout Cassandra Levesque learned that girls in her state could marry at age 13. She worked with a legislator to propose a bill to change the marriage age to 18, but she faced resistance from several legislators.

“We’re asking the Legislature to repeal a law that’s been on the books for over a century, that’s been working without difficulty, on the basis of a request from a minor doing a Girl Scout project,” scoffed State Representative David Bates. The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to kill the bill, leaving the minimum marriage age at 13.

In 2018 Delaware and New Jersey became the first states to ban child marriage with no exceptions. Before this children of any age were allowed to marry with parent consent and approval from a judge.

In 2020, Minnesota and Pennsylvania joined on. Rhode Island and New York joined in 2021.

Why aren’t states doing MORE about it?

Many legislators don’t want to infringe on cultural norms and traditions. Others worry that if the marriage age is raised, it will increase out-of-wedlock births and even encourage abortion.  However, age-of-marriage laws don’t infringe on religious rights or help young mothers, who are at increased risk of forced child marriage.

Updated September 2023.