Marriageable age

Template:Short description Template:Youth rights sidebar Template:Family law Marriageable age is the minimum legal age of marriage. Age and other prerequisites to marriage vary between jurisdictions, but in the vast majority of jurisdictions, the marriageable age as a right is set at the age of majority. Nevertheless, most jurisdictions allow marriage at a younger age with parental or judicial approval, especially if the female is pregnant. Among most indigenous cultures, people marry at fifteen, the age of sexual maturity for both the male and the female. In industrialized cultures, the age of marriage is most commonly 18 years old, but there are variations, and the marriageable age should not be confused with the age of majority or the age of consent, though they may be the same.

The 55 parties to the 1962 Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages have agreed to specify a minimum marriageable age by statute law‚ to override customary, religious, tribal laws and traditions. When the marriageable age under a law of a religious community is lower than that under the law of the land, the state law prevails. However, some religious communities do not accept the supremacy of state law in this respect, which may lead to child marriage or forced marriage.

The 123 parties to the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery have agreed to adopt a prescribed "suitable" minimum age for marriage. In many developing countries, the official age prescriptions stand as mere guidelines. UNICEF, the United Nations children's organization, regards a marriage of a minor (legal child), a person below the adult age, as child marriage and a violation of rights.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Until recently, the minimum marriageable age for females was lower in many jurisdictions than for males, on the premise that females mature at an earlier age than males. This law has been viewed by some to be discriminatory, so that in many countries the marriageable age of females has been raised to equal that of males.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History and social attitudes

Classical antiquity

Greece

In Greece females married as young as 14 or 16.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> In Spartan marriages, females were around 18 and males were around 25.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>

Rome

In the Roman Empire, the Emperor Augustus introduced marriage legislation, the Lex Papia Poppaea, which rewarded marriage and childbearing. The legislation also imposed penalties for both men and women who remained unmarried, or who married but for whatever reason failed to have children. For men it was between the ages of 25 and 60 while for women it was between ages 20 and 50.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Women who were Vestal Virgins were selected between the ages of 10 and 13 to serve as priestesses in the temple of goddess Vesta in the Roman Forum for 30 years, after which they could marry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In Roman law the age of marriage was 12 years for females and 14 years for males, and age of betrothal was 7 years for both males and females.<ref name="Beryl Rawson 1999 p. 21" /> The father had the right and duty to seek a good and useful match for his children.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> To further the interests of their birth families, daughters of the elite would marry into respectable families.<ref name="Rawson_1986">Template:Cite book</ref> If a daughter could prove the proposed husband to be of bad character, she could legitimately refuse the match.<ref name="Rawson_1986" /> Individuals remained under the authority of the pater familias until his death, and the latter had the power to approve or reject marriages for his sons and daughters, but by the late antique period, Roman law permitted women over 25 to marry without parental consent.<ref name="Arjava_1996">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Noblewomen were known to marry as young as 12 years of age,<ref name="Beryl Rawson 1999 p. 21">Template:Cite book</ref> whereas women in the lower social classes were more likely to marry slightly further into their teenage years.<ref name="Hallett_1984">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 43% of Pagan females married at 12–15 years and 42% of Christian females married at 15–18 years.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In late antiquity, most Roman women married in their late teens to early twenties, but noble women married younger than those of the lower classes, as an aristocratic girl was expected to be virgin until her first marriage.<ref name = "Hallett_1984" /> In late antiquity, under Roman law, daughters inherited equally from their parents if no will was produced.<ref name = "Arjava_1996" />Template:Rp In addition, Roman law recognized wives' property as legally separate from husbands' property,<ref name = "Arjava_1996" />Template:Rp as did some legal systems in parts of Europe and colonial Latin America.

In 380 C.E., the Emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, which made Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Holy See adapted Roman law into Canon law.<ref name="Dahl_2010">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Medieval Europe

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, manorialism also helped weaken the ties of kinship and thus the power of clans. As early as the 9th century in northwestern France, families that worked on manors were small, consisting of parents and children and occasionally a grandparent. The Roman Catholic Church and State had become allies in erasing the solidarity and thus the political power of the clans; the Roman Catholic Church sought to replace traditional religion, whose vehicle was the kin group, and substitute the authority of the elders of the kin group with that of a religious elder. At the same time, the king's rule was undermined by revolts by the most powerful kin groups, clans or sections, whose conspiracies and murders threatened the power of the state and also the demands by manorial Lords for obedient, compliant workers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

As the peasants and serfs lived and worked on farms that they rented from the lord of the manor, they also needed the permission of the lord to marry. Couples therefore had to comply with the lord of the manor and wait until a small farm became available before they could marry and thus produce children. Those who could and did not delay marriage were presumably rewarded by the landlord and those who did not marry were presumably denied that reward. For example, marriageable ages in Medieval England varied depending on economic circumstances, with couples delaying marriage until their early twenties when times were bad, but might marry in their late teens after the Black Death, when there was a severe labour shortage;<ref name="Hanawalt_1986">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp by appearances, marriage of adolescents was not the norm in England.<ref name="Hanawalt_1986" />Template:Rp

In medieval Western Europe, the rise of Catholicism and manorialism had both created incentives to keep families nuclear, and thus the age of marriage increased; the Western Church instituted marriage laws and practices that undermined large kinship groups. The Roman Catholic Church prohibited consanguineous marriages, a marriage pattern that had been a means to maintain clans (and thus their power) throughout history.<ref name="pmid11610836">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Roman Catholic Church curtailed arranged marriages in which the bride did not clearly agree to the union.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 12th century, the Roman Catholic Church drastically changed legal standards for marital consent by allowing daughters over 12 years old and sons over 14 years old to marry without their parents' approval, which was previously required, even if their marriage was made clandestinely.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Parish studies have confirmed that in the late medieval period, females did sometimes marry without their parents' approval in England.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In the 12th century, Canon law jurist Gratian, stated that consent for marriage could not take place before the age of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males; also, consent for betrothal could not take place before the age of 7 years old for females and males, as that is the age of reason. The Church of England, after breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, carried with it the same minimum age requirements. Age of consent for marriage of 12 years old for girls and of 14 years old for boys were written into English civil law.<ref name="Dahl_2010" />

The first recorded age-of-consent law, in England, dates back 800 years. The age of consent law in question has to do with the law of rape and not the law of marriage as sometimes misunderstood. In 1275, in England, as part of the rape law, the Statute of Westminster 1275, made it a misdemeanor to have sex with a "maiden within age", whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years old.<ref name="Stephen Robertson, University of Sydney, Australia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A 1576 law was created with more severe punishments for having sex with a girl for which the age of consent was set at 10 years old.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Under English common law the age of consent, as part of the law of rape, was 10 or 12 years old and rape was defined as forceful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will. To convict a man of rape, both force and lack of consent had to be proved, except in the case of a girl who is under the age of consent. Since the age of consent applied in all circumstances, not just in physical assaults, the law also made it impossible for an underage girl (under 12 years old) to consent to sexual activity. There was one exception: a man's acts with his wife (females over 12 years old), to which rape law did not apply.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jurist Sir Matthew Hale stated that both rape laws were valid at the same time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1875, the Offence Against the Persons Act raised the age to 13 years in England; an act of sexual intercourse with a girl younger than 13 was a felony.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There were some fathers who arranged marriages for a son or a daughter before he or she reached the age of maturity, which is similar to what some fathers in ancient Rome did. Consummation would not take place until the age of maturity. Roman Catholic Canon law defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh."<ref>canon 1061 §1</ref> There are recorded marriages of two- and three-year-olds: in 1564, a three-year-old named John was married to a two-year-old named Jane in the Bishop's Court in Chester, England.

Modern history

The policy of the Roman Catholic Church, and later various protestant churches, of considering clandestine marriages and marriages made without parental consent to be valid was controversial, and in the 16th century both the French monarchy and the Lutheran Church sought to end these practices, with limited success.<ref>Beatrice Gottlieb, The family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age Oxford, 1993, pp. 55–56.</ref>

In most of Northwestern Europe, marriages at very early ages were rare. One thousand marriage certificates from 1619 to 1660 in the Archdiocese of Canterbury show that only one bride was 13 years old, four were 15, twelve were 16, and seventeen were 17 years old; while the other 966 brides were at least 19 years old.<ref name="Laslett, Peter 1965. p 82">Laslett, Peter. 1965. The World We Have Lost. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p 82</ref>

In England and Wales, the Marriage Act 1753 required a marriage to be covered by a licence (requiring parental consent for those under 21) or the publication of bans (which parents of those under 21 could forbid). Additionally, the Church of England dictated that both the bride and groom must be at least 21 years of age to marry without the consent of their families. In the certificates, the most common age for the brides is 22 years. For the grooms 24 years was the most common age, with average ages of 24 years for the brides and 27 for the grooms.<ref name="Laslett, Peter 1965. p 82"/> While European noblewomen often married early, they were a small minority of the population,<ref>Coontz, Stephanie. 2005. Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. New York, New York: Viking Press, Penguin Group Inc. p 125-129.</ref> and the marriage certificates from Canterbury show that even among nobility it was very rare to marry women off at very early ages.<ref name="Laslett, Peter 1965. p 82"/>

The minimum age requirements of 12 and 14 were eventually written into English civil law. By default, these provisions became the minimum marriageable ages in colonial America.<ref name="Dahl_2010" /> On the average, marriages occurred several years earlier in colonial America than in Europe, and much higher proportions of the population eventually got married. Community-based studies suggest an average age at marriage of about 20 years old for women in the early colonial period and about 26 years old for men.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, U.S. states began to slowly raise the minimum legal age at which individuals were allowed to marry. Age restrictions, as in most developed countries, have been revised upward so that they are now between 15 and 21 years of age.<ref name="Dahl_2010"/>

Before 1929, the Scottish law adopted the Roman law in allowing a girl to marry at twelve years of age and a boy at fourteen, without any requirement for parental consent. However, in practice, marriages in Scotland at such young ages was almost unknown.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Netherlands

The highest average age at first marriage was in the Netherlands: on average 27 years for women and 30 years for men in both the rural and urban population from the late 1400's onward till the end of WWII, rising at times to 30 years for women and 32 years for men. On average 25-30% of people in the Netherlands remained unmarried throughout their life between 1500 and 1950. <ref name="auto1"/> In Amsterdam the mean age at first marriage for women fluctuated between 23.5 and 25 years old from the late 15th century until the 1660s, when it started to rise even further.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite journal</ref>

From early on the Roman Catholic Church promoted sexual abstinence over marriage, but marriage over sexual promiscuity. This meant that remaining unmarried became socially acceptable in Western Europe. In the Middle Ages marriage was often not recorded and therefore could depend on the word of the couple that could either confirm or deny it having taken place. A majority of unmarried women would be in the service of the church as nuns or as lay women. A vast number of women also provided for themselves in specialised professions until the financial freedoms of women were curtailed by the guilds in the late Middle Ages. This meant that until the late Middle Ages many women could also run businesses to sustain themselves outside of marriage. <ref name="auto1"/>

After the 1400's the first marriage age became better recorded and seems to be influenced largely by the economic situation. In times of economical uncertainty both women and men tended to marry younger (between 20-25 years old for women) but the age gap was somewhat larger. A major factor was that by marrying their daughter off young the parents had one mouth less to feed and the dowry was often lower for younger girls who had learned less skills and build up less savings. This also explains the larger age gap between husband and wife in economical harsher times: an older husband would already have established himself an income to sustain a wife and thus children. Though for political reasons nobility often engaged and married far younger than the general population in many cases the actual consummation of the marriage was postponed until both marriage partners had reached a more mature age. <ref name="auto1"/>

Another contributing factor to later marriage age is that in the Middle Ages a culture of nuclear family structures developed from the multiple generational extended family structures that were common in pre-Christian tribal societies in Western Europe. Both men and women would typically spend several years of working as a maid, farmhand, labourer or apprentice in order to gain work experience, develop skills and save up money to sustain their own nuclear family, rather than continuing to live in multigenerational household. This development raised the socially accepted first marriage age of women from puberty onset (12-14 years old) in the early Middle Ages up to their late teens and older by the late medieval period, and during the renaissance up to their middle twenties on average. This development also brought the first marriage age of women and men far closer together. The great general wealth in the Netherlands from the spice trade also meant that women married later in life. The highest marriage ages for both men and women was passed 30 years old and are found in times of national financial prosperity.<ref name="auto1"/>

An other contributing reason was that late marriage age was a recognised method of birth control. The later a woman married the less children she would birth and the less children a couple had to raise. It was also generally recognised that giving birth at a very young age was detrimental for the woman's health and therefore socially disapproved of. Social disapproval of a young marriage age for the woman and a large age gap between the marriage partners can still be recognised in sayings originating in those centuries. A well known example from neighbouring Britain is the cautionary tale of the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare of whom the young ages were considered scandalous at the time.<ref>De Moor, 2009; 17</ref><ref name="auto1"/>

France

In France, until the French Revolution, the marriageable age was 12 years for females and 14 for males. Revolutionary legislation in 1792 increased the age to 13 years for females and 15 for males. Under the Napoleonic Code in 1804, the marriageable age was set at 15 years old for females and 18 years old for males.<ref>Art. 144 of the Civil Code</ref> In 2006, the marriageable age for females was increased to 18, the same as for males. In jurisdictions where the ages are not the same, the marriageable age for females is more commonly two or three years lower than that of males.

Central Europe

In 17th century Poland, in the Warsaw parish of St John, the average age of women entering marriage was 20.1, and that of men was 23.7. In the second half of the eighteenth century, women in the parish of Holy Cross married at 21.8, while men at 29.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Eastern Europe

In medieval Eastern Europe, the Slavic traditions of patrilocality of early and universal marriage (usually of a bride aged 13–15 years, with menarche occurring on average at age 14) lingered;<ref>Levin, Eve. 1995. Sex and Society in the World of the Orthodox Slavs, 900–1700. Cornell University Press. pgs 96–98</ref> the manorial system had yet to penetrate into Eastern Europe and generally had less effect on clan systems there. The bans on cross-cousin marriages had also not been firmly enforced.<ref>Mitterauer, Michael. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. Pg. 45–48, 77</ref>

In Russia, before 1830 the age of consent for marriage was 15 years old for males and 13 years old for females<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite journal</ref> (though 15 years old was preferred for females, so much so that it was written into the Law Code of 1649).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Teenage marriage was practised for chastity. Both the female and the male teenager needed consent of their parents to marry because they were under 20 years old, the age of majority. In 1830, the age of consent for marriage was raised to 18 years old for males and 16 years old for females<ref name="auto1"/> Though 18 years old was preferred for females, the average age of marriage for females was around 19 years old.<ref>Avdeev, Blum, Troitskaia, Juby, "Peasant Marriage", 733.</ref><ref>Engel, "Peasant Pre-Marital Relations", 698–99.</ref>

Mesoamerica

Aztec society

Aztec family law generally followed customary law. Men got married between the ages of 20–22, and women generally got married at 15 to 18 years of age.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Mayan civilization

Maya family law appears to have been based on customary law. Maya men and women usually got married at around the age of 20, though women sometimes got married at the age of 16 or 17.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Marriageable age as a right vs exceptions

In majority of countries, a right to marry at age 18 is enshrined along with all other rights and responsibilities of adulthood. However, most of these countries allow those younger than that age to marry, usually with parental consent or judicial authorization. These exceptions vary considerably by country. The United Nations Population Fund stated:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental consent or approval by a pertinent authority. However, in 146 [of those] countries, state or customary law allows girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of parents or other authorities; in 52 countries, girls under age 15 can marry with parental consent. In contrast, 18 is the legal age for marriage without consent among males in 180 countries. Additionally, in 105 countries, boys can marry with the consent of a parent or a pertinent authority, and in 23 countries, boys under age 15 can marry with parental consent.{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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In recent years, many countries in the EU have tightened their marriage laws, either banning marriage under 18 completely, or requiring judicial approval for such marriages. Countries which have reformed their marriage laws in recent years include Sweden (2014), Denmark (2017), Germany (2017), Luxembourg (2014), Spain (2015), Netherlands (2015), Finland (2019) and Ireland (2019). Many developing countries have also enacted similar laws in recent years: Honduras (2017), Ecuador (2015), Costa Rica (2017), Panama (2015), Trinidad & Tobago (2017), Malawi (2017).

The minimum age requirements of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males were written into English civil law. By default, these provisions became the minimum marriageable ages in colonial America. This English common law inherited from the British remained in force in America unless a specific state law was enacted to replace them. In the United States, as in most developed countries, age restrictions have been revised upward so that they are now between 15 and 21 years of age.<ref name="Dahl_2010"/>

In Western countries, marriages of teenagers have become rare in recent years, with their frequency declining during the past few decades. For instance, in Finland, where in the early 21st century underage youth could obtain a special judicial authorization to marry, there were only 30–40 such marriages per year during that period (with most of the spouses being aged 17), while in the early 1990s, more than 100 such marriages were registered each year. Since 1 June 2019 Finland has banned marriages of anyone under 18 with no exemptions.<ref name="auto6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Relation to the age of majority

Template:Further Marriageable age as a right is usually the same with the age of majority which is 18 years old in most countries. However, in some countries, the age of majority is under 18, while in others it is 19, 20 or 21 years. In Canada for example, the age of majority is 19 in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. Marriage under 19 years in these provinces requires parental or court consent (see Marriage in Canada). In USA for example, the age of majority is 21 in Mississippi and 19 in Nebraska and requires parental consent. In many jurisdictions of North America, married minors become legally emancipated.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Listed by country

Africa

Country	Without parental or judicial consent		With parental consent		With judicial consent		Notes
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
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Template:Flag<ref>Ethiopia</ref>	18				16
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |18|| colspan="2" |16|| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | – ||Law No. 006/2021, Article 203 of the Civil Code<ref name=":2" />
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Template:Flag	21<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|18||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|None || Under the age of 18 with the written permission of the Minister or any staff member in the Public Service authorized by the Minister.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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Template:Flag	18			15	None		Under the Marriage Act, 1961, parental consent is required for the marriage of a party under the age of majority,<ref>Marriage Act, No. 25 of 1961, section 24.</ref> which was formerly 21 but is now 18. The special consent of the Minister of Home Affairs is also required for the marriage of a girl under the age of 15 or a boy under the age of 18.<ref>Marriage Act, No. 25 of 1961, section 26.</ref> Under the Civil Union Act, 2006, which allows for same-sex or opposite-sex marriages, both parties must be 18 or older.<ref>Civil Union Act, No. 17 of 2006, section 1.</ref> Under the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998, a customary marriage entered into after the passage of the act will only be recognised if both parties were 18 or older.<ref>Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, No. 120 of 1998, section 3.</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	Puberty (Muslim religious marriages)				10		The Personal Status Law of Muslims, 1991, allows Muslim religious marriages from puberty. All other marriages include civil marriages between Muslims, civil marriages between non-Muslims, civil marriages between Muslim men and non-Muslim women, and non-Muslim religious marriages. All civil marriages require two (2) Muslim witnesses. Sudan forbids marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	18 (other marriages)	16 (other marriages)	18 (other marriages)	16 (other marriages)
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=3 style="text-align:center;"|18||15||colspan=2 align=center| 14||
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=4 style="text-align:center;"|18||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|16||
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=6 style="text-align:center;"|18||
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=6 style="text-align:center;"|18||
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|21||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|18||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | – || In 2023 marriages under 18 banned.<ref>Zambia: Amendment to Marriage Act Enacted, Child Marriage Outlawed</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Americas

Country	Without parental or judicial consent		With parental consent		With judicial consent		Notes
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Template:Flag<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> ||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|18||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|15||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | – || Section 25 of The Marriage Act reads: "A marriage solemnized between persons either of whom is under the age of fifteen shall be null and void."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		15		None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18/19		16				Marriage in Canada is governed by both federal and provincial laws. The minimum age to marry is set at 16 by a federal statute, the Civil Marriage Act, which states: "No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, the provinces may impose procedural requirements for the marriage of a minor who is over 16 but under the age of majority (18 or 19), such as requiring parental consent or permission from a judge. The Criminal Code also prohibits marriage under the age of 16: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		14		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						Since 2022, the minimum age is 18.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18			15	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation						CitationClass=web }}</ref>||Since 2017, the minimum age is 18. Before 2017 females could marry from 16, with parental consent.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						Varies by state. The General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents 2014 establishes 18 years as the general age of marriage, but allows girls to marry at 14 and boys at 16 with parental consent. At state level, as of May 2017, 22 states have made marriage before 18 illegal, while another ten allow it under certain circumstances.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of June 1, 2020 marriageable age in all states is 18 without exceptions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		18		None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		–		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18 in most states/territories 19 in Nebraska 21 in Mississippi 21 in Puerto Rico		Varies by state				labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The minimum marriageable age requirements of 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males were written into English civil law. By default, these provisions became the minimum marriageable ages in colonial America. English common law inherited from the British remained in force in America unless a specific state law was enacted to replace them. In the United States, as in most developed countries, age restrictions have been revised upward so that they are now between 15 and 21 years of age.<ref name="Dahl_2010"/> Minors under 18 cannot marry in the states of New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Hampshire, Washington State, Michigan and Vermont under any circumstance. This also holds true for the territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> decision of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice.<ref>http://www.imprentanacional.gob.ve/gaceta_oficial/archivos/40.553.pdf Template:Dead link</ref>

Asia

Country	Without parental or judicial consent		With parental consent		With judicial consent		Notes
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Template:Flag	Puberty						Template:Further<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> prior to that date it was 17 for females and 18 for males.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} See section 48</ref> On June 7, 2024, the law on marriage exceptions was repealed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Previously, marriage at the age of 17 was permitted with the consent of the parents, and at the age of 16 - with the consent of the parents and provided that the other willing spouse had reached the age of at least 18 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						The marriageable age for females was raised to 18 in 2011, equalizing it to that of males; prior to that date, it was set at 17 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> On June 11, 2024, the law on marriage exceptions was repealed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Previously, marriage at 17 years was permitted in special cases with judicial authorization according to Article 10 of the Family Code.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21	18	None				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite the law, child marriage rates in Bangladesh are among the highest in the world. Every 2 out of 3 marriages involve child marriages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		14<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>||Minimum legal age for marriage without parental consent varies across states/provinces, ethnic groups, religious groups or forms of marriage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	22	20	22	20	–		China is the only country to have the highest set marriageable age for men.<ref name="China2006">Template:Cite book</ref> File:Tongshan-County-village-house-9886.jpg The sign painted on a building in a village in Hubei, China, informs of the marriageable age in the country (22 for men, 20 for women).
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	17		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21	18	-				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 30 November 2022, The High court of Jharkhand reported that a Muslim Woman can marry a person of her choice after attaining 15 years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	21		19		None		The 2019 Revision of the Marriage Law (1974) raised the marriageable age for female from 16 to 19 years, equalizing it to that of males. However, grooms and brides under the age of 21 are required to get their parents' permission before marriage. While parents can ask the court to grant permission in the case of the grooms or the brides under the age of 19, the revision stipulated that the court can grant such permission only if there are urgent reasons as well as supporting evidences to back them. The law revision also stresses that the court must consider the spirit of preventing child marriage, as well as moral, religious, cultural, psychological, and health considerations before granting the permission.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	15	15	13	None		<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Abrahamian, History of Modern Iran, (2008), p. 190</ref> Ways around these regulations include temporary marriages (Nikah mut'ah).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> With the permission of a court girls may marry at a younger age. In 2010 as many as 42,000 children aged between 10 and 14 years were married,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and 716 girls younger than 10 had wed.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Template:Flag	18				15		15 with judicial permission if fitness, physical capacity and guardian's consent (or unreasonable objection on part of guardian) are established. In January 2025, the Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a law amending the Personal Status Law; the age of marriage was not changed and its reduction is expressly prohibited in the amendment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}"The Academic Council is committed to ensuring that when drafting the Code of Sharia Law in matters of personal status regarding the age of marriage, that it is not reduced..."</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} ”[The] code must comply with existing provisions, including those of the 1959 Law, which sets the minimum age of marriage [at 18], with exceptions allowing marriage from the age of 15 with a judge’s permission and depending on the child’s “maturity and physical capacity.”</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				–		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18						The legal minimum age to marry in Jordan is 18, with no restrictions, but is set at 15 years with parental/guardian consent, for both males and females.
Template:Flag	18		17		16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		–				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				17		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		15		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	17	17	15	15	14	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> 18 or 17 years and 16 or 15 years with judicial permission for Druze.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				Articles 1478, 1479 and 1482 of the Civil Code.
Template:Flag	21		18			16	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		Under the Family Law 1999, Art. 9.1.2 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years. However, the next article allows persons between the ages of 16–18 to be married if they have been “commissioned the right of full legal capacity” in accordance to the Civil Code.
Template:Flag	18			18	18	–	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	20		20		–		(Civil Code 2017, Section 70 and 71) Marriage may be concluded if both have attained twenty years of age. Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (b) of sub-section (1), nothing shall bar the conclusion, or causing the conclusion of, a marriage within the relationship that is allowed to marry in accordance with the practices prevailing in their ethnic community or clan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	17	18	17	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	16/18, depending on the province. 18 in Punjab and Sindh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013</ref>||style="text-align:center;"|18||style="text-align:center;"|16/18||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|–||Despite the law<ref>Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929</ref> against child marriage, the practice is widespread. According to two 2013 reports, nearly 20% of all marriages in Pakistan involve girls less than 18 years old.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Social customs: 'Nearly half of Pakistani women are married before the age of 18' Tribune / IHT (The New York Times), August 31, 2013</ref> However, in Punjab and Sindh, severe punishments are given for marriages before the age of 18.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		18		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	16	None				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				15		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		18		None
Template:Flag	19		18		–
Template:Flag	18						However, the parties must have a Qadi's permission to marry before contracting into marriage if they are Muslims.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		–		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Article 3, {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				18	17	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	20	18	20	18	None<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	15		None				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Europe

The marriageable age as a right is 18 years in all European countries, with the exception of Andorra and Scotland where it is 16 (regardless of gender). Existing exceptions to this general rule (usually requiring special judicial or parental consent) are discussed below. In both the European Union and the Council of Europe the marriage act states: The Istanbul convention, the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> only requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article 37) and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization (Article 32), but does not make any reference to a minimum age of marriage.

Country	Without parental or judicial consent		With parental consent		With judicial consent		Notes
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		The court does not only give consent, It also requires the parents' consent, with exception if they have no serious reasons for their refuse; Marriage Act, § 1
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				None		With parental consent, serious reasons are required for a minor to marry; without parental consent, the unwillingness of the parents has to constitute an abuse.<ref>Articles 144, 145 and 148 of the Civil Code of Belgium.</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		Croatian Family Act, Article 25
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moreover, a minor can marry if he or she has been granted full capacity by a court decision as given by Article 37 of the Civil Code.
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						In Finland, all marriages under 18 years is completely legally banned with no exemptions since June 1, 2019.<ref name="auto6"/>
Template:Flag	18				16		Under 18, permission from a court or one parent. In France the legal age for marriage was equalized for both sexes at 18 in 2006,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but in exceptional cases a court may allow marriage at younger ages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> (Before this day, a Family Court could issue an exception for 16–18 year-olds if one party was over 18.) Marriages with a spouse under 16 are legally void. For a 16–17 year old spouse the marriage is repealed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16
Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						Since 2019, marriage under 18 is prohibited.<ref>Template:Multiref</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16
Template:Flag	18		16
Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				15	None	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		16				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		16 years with court approval for male and female, their consent and their parents' consent is needed.
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2018, the unicameral Parliament of Norway passed a bill on the first reading to ban all child marriage under 18 years with no exemptions at all. The bill has to again pass the second reading before it can get royal assent by the King of Norway to go into law.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18					16	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				—		Since 2nd April 2025, the minimum legal age is 18 in all circumstances. Previously, 16 year-olds could marry with parent or judicial consent.
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16, only for justifiable reasons, such as pregnancy		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				None		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		In 2012 the Family Code of Ukraine was amended to allow persons aged 16 to marry under certain circumstances if issued by a court (article 23).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18 in England and Wales 16 in Scotland and Northern Ireland		See notes				Template:FlagdecoTemplate:Flagdeco England and Wales: 18<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Flag: 16<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Flagicon Northern Ireland: 16 years with parental consent (with the court able to give consent in some cases).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Oceania

Country	Without parental or judicial consent		With parental consent		With judicial consent		Notes
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
Template:Flag	18				16		16 years with permission from a court and both parents (only granted in exceptional circumstances).<ref>Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961 s.10–21</ref> Also in its external territories.
Template:Flag	18		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		18		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		18	16	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18				16		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21	19	18	15	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18	16	18	16	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
Template:Flag	21						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21	19	18	16	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18		15		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	18			16	–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21	19	18	16	–		<ref>Marriage Regulations 1986, ss. 6,7.</ref>
Template:Flag	21		16		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flag	21		18		–		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

By religion

Judaism

Classical Antiquity

In ancient Israel men twenty years old and older would become warriors<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and when they get married they would get one year leave of absence to be with their wife.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rabbis estimated the age of maturity from about the beginning of the thirteenth year for women and about the beginning of the fourteenth year for men.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On the practice of Levirate marriage, the Talmud advised against a large age gap between a man and his brother's widow.<ref>Yebamot 44a</ref> A younger woman marrying a significantly older man, however, is especially problematic: marrying one's young daughter to an old man was declared by the Sanhedrin as reprehensible as forcing her into prostitution.<ref>Sanhedrin 76a</ref>

Post-Classical period

In Rabbinic Judaism, males cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 13 years and a day and have undergone puberty and females cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 12 years and a day and have undergone puberty. Males and females are considered minors until the age of twenty. After twenty, males are not considered adults if they show signs of impotence. If males show no signs of puberty or do show impotence, they automatically become adults by age 35 and can marry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marriage involved a double ceremony, which included the formal betrothal and wedding rites.<ref name="Britannica Marriage Rituals">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The minimum age for marriage was 13 years old for males and 12 years old for females but formal betrothal could take place before that and often did. Talmud advises males to get married at 18 years old or between 16 years old and 24 years old.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A ketannah (literally meaning "little [one]") was any girl between the age of 3 years and that of 12 years plus one day;<ref name="JewEncMaj">{{#if:||{{#if:|File:Wikisource-logo.svg|File:PD-icon.svg}} }}{{#if:||{{#if:|One or more of the preceding sentences|This article}} incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: }}{{#invoke:template wrapper|{{#if:|list|wrap}}|_template=cite Jewish Encyclopedia

 |_exclude=inline, noicon, no-icon, no-prescript, _debug
 |noicon=1 

}}{{#ifeq: | |}}</ref> she was subject to her father's authority, and he could arrange a marriage for her without her agreement, and that marriage remains binding even after reaching the age of maturity.<ref name="JewEncMaj" /> If a girl was orphaned from her father, or she was married by his authority and subsequently divorced, she, her mother, or her brother could marry her in a quasi-binding fashion. Until the age of maturity, she could annul the marriage retroactively. After reaching the age of maturity, intercourse with her husband renders her officially married.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Christianity

Catholic Canon law adopted Roman law, which set the minimum age of marriage at 12 years old for females and 14 years old for males. The Roman Catholic Church raised the minimum age of marriage to 14 years old for females and to 16 years old for males in 1917 and lowered the age of majority to 18 years old in 1983. The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches states the same requirements in canon 800.

blank	Without parental or ordinary officer consent		With parental consent		With ordinary officer consent		Notes
	Male consent	Female consent	Male consent	Female consent	Male consent	Female consent
Roman Catholic Church	18	18	16	14	16	14	The minimum ages of consent for marriage in the Catholic Church are 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Being underage constitutes a diriment impediment. That is, a marriage involving an underage bride or groom is canonically invalid. A Conference of Bishops may adopt a higher age for marriage, but in that case, the higher age only creates a prohibitive impediment, that is, a marriage involving a bride or groom above the Church's minimum age but below that set by the Conference is valid but illicit. Permission to marry against a civil authority's directive requires the permission of the Ordinary, which, in the case of sensible and equal laws regarding marriageable age, is not usually granted. The permission by the Ordinary is also required in case of a marriage of a minor when their parents are unaware of his marriage or if their parents reasonably oppose the marriage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Higher ages set by Conferences of Bishops

	Male consent	Female consent	Notes
Canada	18		<ref name="Canon Law Annotated 1717">Canon Law Annotated, Caparros, et al., pp. 1669 and 1717.</ref>
England and Wales	16		<ref>Canon Law Annotated, Caparros, et al., p. 1677, and Canon Law Digest, v. 11 (1983–1985), p. 263.</ref>
Gambia	18	16	<ref name="ReferenceA">Canon Law Annotated, Caparros, et al., p. 1689</ref>
Liberia	18	16	<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
New Zealand	16		<ref name="Canon Law Annotated 1717"/>
Nigeria	see note		Each bishop has the authority to set a higher prohibitive minimum age.<ref>Canon Law Annotated, Caparros, et al., p. 1741.</ref>
Philippines	21	18	<ref>Canon Law Annotated, Caparros, et al., p. 1762, and Canon Law Digest, v. 11 (1983–1985), p. 264.</ref>
Sierra Leone	18	16	<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Islam

Büchler and Schlater state that "marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation".<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite journal</ref> Hanafi school of classical Islamic jurisprudence interpret the "age of marriage", in the Quran (24:59;65:4), as the beginning of puberty.

Shafiʽi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Ja'fari schools of classical Islamic jurisprudence interpret the "age of marriage", in the Quran (24:59), as completion of puberty. For Shafiʽi, Hanbali, and Maliki schools of Islamic jurisprudence, in Sunni Islam, the condition for marriage is physical (bulugh) maturity and mental (rushd) maturity.

In his Shafiʽi jurisprudential compilation, The Stocks of the Sojourner, Ahmad Ibn Naqib Al-Misri (died 1368 A.D.) writes:

Guardians are, moreover, two types, a binder and a non-binder. The binder is the father and the grandfather, mainly as to the marriage of a virgin, and so is the master as to the marriage of his slave girl. The meaning of "binder" is that he may marry her off without her consent.

The non-binder may not marry her off without her consent and permission. When virgin, though, the father or the grandfather may marry her off without her permission, but it is commendable to ask her, and her silence should signify acquiescence. The sane-minded non-virgin, however, may not be married off by anyone after maturity unless with her express consent, be it by the father, the grandfather, or anyone else. Before maturity, the non-virgin may not be married off at all.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

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Marriages are traditionally contracted by the father or guardian of the bride and her intended husband.<ref name="Britannica Marriage Rituals" />

The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the Ottoman empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 years for boys and 17 years for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, which followed the traditional Hanafi minimum ages of 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden.

During the 20th century, most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 15–16 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence is subject to approval by a judge and the legal guardian of the child. Egypt diverged from this pattern by setting the age limits of 18 years for boys and 16 years for girls, without a distinction between competence for marriage and minimum age.<ref name="EI2-8-29">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Many senior clerics in Saudi Arabia have opposed setting a minimum age for marriage, arguing that a girl reaches adulthood at puberty.<ref name="thenational">Template:Cite news</ref>

However in 2019, members of the Saudi Shoura Council in 2019 approved fresh regulations for child marriage that will see to outlaw marrying off 15-year-old children and force the need for court approval for those under 18 years. The Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Shoura Council, Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, said that introduced controls were based on in-depth studies presented to the body. He pointed out that the regulation, vetted by the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council, has raised the age of marriage to 18 years and prohibited it for those under 15 years.<ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Baháʼí Faith

In the Baháʼí Faith's religious book Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the age of marriage is set at 15 years for both boys and girls. It is forbidden to become engaged before the age of 15 years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Indian religions

The Dharmaśāstras state that females can marry only after they have reached puberty.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Furthermore, The Legal Age for Marriage in India is being proposed to be amended, thereby increasing the marriageable age for girls in India in 2022 from 18 to 21 years.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• List of countries by age at first marriage
• Age disparity in sexual relationships
• Arranged marriage
• Child marriage
• Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (UN treaty)
• Legality of polygamy
• Mature minor doctrine
• Polygamy
• Teenage marriage

External links

• Age at 1st marriage in Gapminder World
• Cornell Law table of marriage age by state and territory for the United States