To think instead of raising the legal age we should do this instead

[Marriageisspecial]

There is a private member’s bill going through the commons to raise the legal age to get married from 16 to 18. I currently know two school leavers who have just ‘sat’ (different with covid) their GCSEs who are planning on getting married they are both the same age and they live together ect. I know another 16 year old who is starting an apprenticeship in September and will be earning £12,500 per year. I do also understand the concern over coercion and being married off to much older men. However there are also young couples who may want to get married also situations if one has a terminal illness and wants to marry their girlfriend/boyfriend or a teenage pregnancy. So Aibu to think instead we should adopt the system of Texas where you must apply to the court to get married if you are 16-18 this way we could still protect people but make provision for the above cases?

Moving marriage age to adulthood makes sense. Parents shouldn’t have anything to do with decision. Anything that stops forced or coerced marriage.
I was in hairdressers recently. A 15 year old traveller girl was in - her Dad had already had a marriage offer for her but wanted to hold out until she was old (17) like her sister who’s now 18 married with a baby and already pregnant again. She’d left school year 5. Hairdresser’s niece was helping that Saturday (Muslim and also 15) she was as shocked as I was was at someone getting married so young.

16 is still a child.

There is NO reason why a child should be getting reason as far as I'm concerned.

YABU. I say that as someone who is from a deeply religious community that is all about marriage and marriage young(ie in your early 20's). I knew one couple that married at 16 and even in our community that raised a lot of eyebrows.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to put a stop to child marriage and if it gets rid of this grey area in the law that allows parents to force a marriage all the better. I also think the more countries that do this the better. True its not a huge issue in terms of numbers here but every little helps.

18 is the right minimum age for marriage, as one can vote, enter contracts, drive, and die for one’s country.

@ChainJane

The age for a lot of things should be raised to 25 - marriage, driving, smoking for instance. Adolescence is extended these days, people like with their parents a lot longer, many can't even consider buying a home until their late twenties.

My DCs teacher is 22, the midwife who delivered my baby was 24 (just a couple of examples I can think of off the top of my head!) would seem mad if they couldn’t legally drive..

I think 18 is the absolute minimum it should be, and that’s only because you’re legally an adult, so you can’t allow every other decision to be your own other than that one, but I still think it’s a terrible time to make any life long decisions (appreciate you can divorce, but the principle is that it’s a life long decision and has the potentially to massively influence your life).

Although it does raise the question of it being legal to have sex, but not married, which is clearly contrary to traditional expectations (albeit not reality for most people).

Having a lower age for consent than marriage isn't telling people they MUST go and have sex as soon as they're legal. It's saying that at that age, young humans have some agency and autonomy and that sexual situations aren't all going to be coercive or need investigation. However, entering a lifetime contract needs more maturity. This reflects that we develop in stages, and can think about some things long before we can understand some other things.

Yanbu

@ChainJane

The age for a lot of things should be raised to 25 - marriage, driving, smoking for instance. Adolescence is extended these days, people like with their parents a lot longer, many can't even consider buying a home until their late twenties.

I’m 23 and tbh sick of being infantilised. I bought a house last year, started a business at 20 and I’m engaged to be married in September. I live like any other functioning adult and I feel light years apart from 16 or even 18. Young adults are only staying home because it’s expensive to move out, not lack of capability to make a decision. 16 is way too young but 25 is a little bit nuts IMO.

25 is nuts, I think 18 is an adult a young adult but older enough to know what is right and wrong the age of criminal responsibility is lower. you can be a doctor at 21 on the register obviously still doing some training whether to be a GP or hospital route, I think children on one hand are too grown up too young at 12-13 regarding social media accounts etc but there parents won't let them cook or use a knife unsupervised or go to the park to hang out with friends so infantilised in other respects, at 18 someone should be ready to live alone and look after themselves I am not saying kick them out or no support but any NT18 year old is capable of getting their own job, or studying without being reminded etc, working out how to travel to work, college, organising their finances so they don't overspend doing their own cooking laundry, housework and finances
so yes they should be able to marry rent or buy a house drive a car, borrow money to buy a car etc
The only reason the age for being a doctor is 21 is to stop very clever children starting medical school early like some maths genius going to Oxford at 12 the only other things are getting a HGV or pilots licence for large aircraft or adopting a child

Getting rid of the option for parents to 'OK' what should be an adult decision seems sensible. Child marriage isn't exactly the marker of a society willing to protect children.

So Aibu to think instead we should adopt the system of Texas where you must apply to the court to get married if you are 16-18 this way we could still protect people but make provision for the above cases
YABU. Courts here are underfunded expensive for users and very very slow.

Fuck no, children shouldn’t be able to get married under any circumstances, raising the age to 18 sounds like a great idea.

I think people should be allowed to vote at 16. Some of them are particularly politically aware.

However, I’d go for marriage at 21 AND ld raise the age of consent to 18 to protect girls from predatory men.

16 is literally a child bride (and possibly groom). You also cannot marry under the age of 18 without parental consent which just increases the likelihood of forced or coerced marriages.