How are we just raising marriage age to 18?

[Whattodonut]

Just that. Amazing its taken so long!

This. At 16 I considered myself grown up and on the whole acted it. And I'd say the same about my dc.. You're old enough to be legally having sex after all
I would imagine very few 16 year old want to get married nowadays, the average age is getting older.

if as some have suggested a 16 year old with 6 month's reflection can change gender and start taking permanent changes to body which can not be undone then they are mature enough to decide to marry which can be undone
it is about comparable decisions and their consequences

Well a 12 hear old had been raped.
The 16 year old was legally able to have sex. It is a little odd to allow someone legally to make a baby but not to marry to bring up a baby.

I dont think 16 is a good time to have a baby and i dont think all sex leads to pregnancy but the laws dont line up that well.

Here, here.

Infantilizing older teenagers and early 20s is a really damaging trend.

18 is fine as a cutoff. No need to raise the legal age any further.

My wedding was booked for when I was 17. Only postponed because I got pregnant. Still with him and married him after our second dc then had a third dc.

It not the age at the time of the marriage it’s the people marrying. Many marriages fail from people who got married at 30 or 40. As long as nobody has been groomed into it.

There's a balance between infantalising and protecting

@OhmygodDont

Most stats show that the younger you are the more likely the relationship will fail.

Anacdata doesn't disprove that

Why does being pregnant suddenly mean you’re able to make better/more informed/safer/more responsible choices?! What if a 12yo were pregnant? Should she marry?

The law recognizes marriage. If a 16yo is having an own family - why not have appropriate paperwork?

If the law recognises that a person under the age of 18 is old enough to have sex, birth and look after a baby, drive a car, live independently, change gender and take hormones-supressants, etc, fight and die for their country, vote (in Scotland), work, pay taxes, etc, etc - then I believe they are old enough to get married.

I live in Scotland though, where people have always been able to marry at 16 without parental consent.

And Scotland doesn't even have a requirement for consent from an adult (parental or judicial) for minors, does it? I think that makes it almost a total outlier in Europe, a situation shared only with Andorra (pop. 79k).

It's incredible that politicians were holding this up as an example of why other age limits should be dropped. If you're listening in the Scottish Green Party, child marriage is not something to be proud of!

I’d be interested in the genders as well.
I remember watching the old ‘big fat gypsy wedding’ series and there were often brides of 16/17 but the groom was ALWAYS a fair bit older.

Totally idiotic response.
26 year olds are still children; if they’re pregnant they need support from family and/or specialist services, not a bloody husband 🙄

The last thing that should happen is an exception for if a teen is pregnant- can you imagine? It’s also a time when they are more vulnerable to abuse and pressure, so less able to make the best decision (for a vulnerable teenager, not saying adult women who are pregnant are less able to make decisions!)

Some kind of close-in-age rule, so that a pair of 15 year olds aren't automatically criminalised, but the 30-something (or worse) chasing around after a 17 year odd is seen for the creep he is.

@DdraigGoch

Yes

*Here, here.

Infantilizing older teenagers and early 20s is a really damaging trend.

18 is fine as a cutoff. No need to raise the legal age any further.*

Yep I agree, 18 is a good cutoff. Over 18s are adults.

I remember reading someone on here saying under-25s really shouldn’t be able to drive cars or live independently 🤣

Its a bit odd to infantilise adults in their early 20s. How will you feel if your child’s class teacher is that age? Or the midwife who solely takes care of you and makes decisions about your labour and birth? Or the paramedic or police officer who attends to you? It’s a bit ridiculous to say under 25s are practically children.

It's to stop 15 year old girls being exploited by predatory families and older men. 16 year old boys do not get married. But 16 year old girls do, and often to much older men. They are effectively sold off by their families and it's vile.

For anyone saying yes but it's my choice etc, waiting two years won't really be an issue: for these girls, it could mean that they are not exploited and groomed by more experienced and greedy adults.

This will prevent 'summer holidays marriages' where unsuspecting young women are married off abroad, often to a cousin, having had no say in the matter and unable to resist parents insistence. Restricting marriage to legal adults is a step forward at last.

Well the 16 year old isn't going to be able to do either in England & Wales. Whereas in Scotland there seems to be a political obsession with lowering the bar of adulthood.

Whereas in Scotland there seems to be a political obsession with lowering the bar of adulthood.

While also trying to put in place a Named Person for the same ages. 🤔

What are the statistics on 16 year olds getting g married?
Is it more prevalent in certain cultures where there is more of a propensity for arranged marriages ?
My 16 year old son ,whilst he's a lovely lad and mature for his age is still very young ,he's been in hospital all.week and he's wanted me with him understandably , I can,t imagine him being in any way ready to get married!

If they get married abroad though ,the laws.here won't apply surely?

Just out of curiosity, what caveat would you have?

@x2boys - chances are that such a marriage overseas will not now be recognised in the UK if at 16. Which is a bloody good idea.

Ah right ,I wasn't disagreeing at all .btw no 16 year old is ready to be married and certainly not to.a much older husband