Sajid Javid calling for legal age of marriage to rise to 18

[ArabellaScott]

On GB news at 10.

(England and Wales only.)

Interesting, though - my initial thought is that this is sensible. What are the benefits of marrying at 16 - are there any?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9677273/Sajid-Javid-seeks-raise-minimum-age-marriage-18.html

[MarianneUnfaithful]

Generally speaking, if age of consent for sex is 16, then the risk of pregnancy is there already.. and therefore there does need to be some sort of social and legal protection for the potential mother which is what marriage offers

What social or legal protection does marriage offer a 16 year old?

Granted, yes, the chance to escape what amounts to abusive pressure from certain religious communities (a range of certain communities, different religions), but is that something that should be pandered to?

Marriage gives each partner access to half the other’s income, assets, housing etc, but a 16 year old would be given support, there is the child maintenance system, etc.

What are the numbers of 16 year olds who are actively want to marry, and are expecting a baby? I have not seen any on MN, or posters who are parents of 16 yos pregnant and wanting to marry.

Our laws need to be about what is right. Not fudged round the edge to accommodate the ‘it’s not right but..’.

[PineappleAce]

@DdraigGoch

What are the benefits of marrying at 16 - are there any?
It would have made sense when the school leaving age was 12 but a 16 year old is very much a child these days.

That's a strange thought; that you could be married and Mrs Someone while still in school!

[Anotheruser02]

The prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until mid 20's, that is the part of the brain related to focusing attention, impulse control and predicting consequences. It's not as logical as saying if you can do xyz you should be ok to drive, if you need to work/ travel to college you have to drive.

[Guavafish]

Yes I agree ethnicity doesn’t determine someone’s culture

[c9590]

I always found it strange one could get married and have a baby before they could drive a car .

Seems if you're responsible enough for marriage and children you should be fine to drive .

[DeepThinkingGirl]

Guavafish

It’s a tricky subject. But I definately think it’s a massive mistake and very dismissive to assume that Sajids ethnic background means there is no longer a need to engage with the community that this problem refers to.. ethnicity doesn’t determine someone’s culture or cultural representations.

[Guavafish]

@DeepThinkingGirl

I think it’s tricky

Going to go against the grain here

If kids are able to have sex at that age then marriage needs to remain legal.

This is because, many parents will still “marry” their daughters off at that age without the civil ceremony taking place, so making it 18 isn’t going to change that.

But what will change is the many youngsters who might get intimate behind their parents backs and not be able to get any consent from them to marry and might face a big taboo by their religious communities.

I think she of consent to sex should be the same as age of consent to marriage

Marriage protects the girl really. And she could end it when she pleases. Not sure what’s to not benefit from At least making a relationship official in order to prevent her being groomed

“Tin hat on”.

I agree with you.

I don’t think it’s wise to push it to 18. The kind of marriage people are forced into in the UK is illegal.

I think 16 with parental consent is fine and without at 17.

Most teen pregnancy occur outside marriage.

[DeepThinkingGirl]

I do agree with the age of consent bring raised

But I do think there are drawbacks and I don’t think Sajid Javid is doing a good job by addressing an issue of a specific ethnic group without bringing them to the table.

He is over simplifying the issue. Which introduces the risk of raising other issues for that community.

Generally speaking, if age of consent for sex is 16, then the risk of pregnancy is there already.. and therefore there does need to be some sort of social and legal protection for the potential mother which is what marriage offers.

So we might be protecting a percentage of children from coercive parents but we aren’t protecting girls from conservative communities from their communities which would shun them if they rebelled and decided to get pregnant or have sex before the legal age of marriage

I think all factors need to be considered in this

[ArabellaScott]

@wwyd2021medicine

I was coerced into marrying at 16. Good home, good prospects. He was abusive and I didn't feel I could ask for help. I was a scared child. Parents didn't know. Registry office in portobello Edinburgh. No one asked any questions. Wholeheartedly agree with this

[YellowFish12]

Agree 100% with this. UK should also limit the age of consent for young people (e.g. 16-18 year olds can only consent to 16-18 year olds) and end child soldiers (16 year olds being able to sign up).

Totally agree with this.

[AvantGardening]

[quote ArabellaScott]Okay, you can sign up for a four year stint at 16, which means you can be sent to war at 18.

'The UK is the only country in Europe and the only permanent member of the UN Security Council to recruit children to the Armed Forces'

www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/stop-recruiting-children-uk-armed-forces-urged/[/quote]
You can sign up to the military for four years or longer at 16 with parental permission but leave any time before your 18th birthday without consequences. (A notice period of anything from nothing to 3 months would apply).

[ChattyLion]

I agree completely with Javid’s idea, for exactly the same reason as I am opposed to lowering the voting age to 16.

Same here. Also we need much much better national public transport for so many public health reasons and economic recovery reasons. Young mens car driving could be limited that way too.

[MarianneUnfaithful]

@habibihabibi

I worked in a UK community where girls younger than 16 disappeared from school, went abroad to their cultural homeland and were "married" in the islamic view. Some were married off locally pre 16. A twelve year old complained she was promised to an uncle. Of course this was reported through the school and various agencies but denied by families.
This will still happen despite the law.

Yes, true, but that isn’t an argument against making the legal age 16.

[PearPickingPorky]

Can't think of any downsides to this, so I support it.

[habibihabibi]

I worked in a UK community where girls younger than 16 disappeared from school, went abroad to their cultural homeland and were "married" in the islamic view. Some were married off locally pre 16. A twelve year old complained she was promised to an uncle. Of course this was reported through the school and various agencies but denied by families.
This will still happen despite the law.

[cheugy]

Teen pregnancy for married teenagers I mean.

[cheugy]

Another issue with 16 year old marriage is that it encourages teen pregnancy and carrying the baby to term.

According to the WHO:

complications in pregnancy and childbirth are higher among adolescent girls age 10-19 (compared to women aged 20-24) (2,3).

Obviously this will also be affected by the age of consent but I feel that a young age for marriage somewhat legitimises teen pregnancy.

[DeepThinkingGirl]

I think it’s tricky

Going to go against the grain here

If kids are able to have sex at that age then marriage needs to remain legal.

This is because, many parents will still “marry” their daughters off at that age without the civil ceremony taking place, so making it 18 isn’t going to change that.


But what will change is the many youngsters who might get intimate behind their parents backs and not be able to get any consent from them to marry and might face a big taboo by their religious communities.

I think she of consent to sex should be the same as age of consent to marriage

Marriage protects the girl really. And she could end it when she pleases. Not sure what’s to not benefit from At least making a relationship official in order to prevent her being groomed


“Tin hat on”.

[KimikosNightmare]

and you cant vote or own property

You can do both in Scotland at age 16.

[GeorginaBell]

To be honest the way that our brains are still developing until the age of 25 and how irresponsible some people are starting families when they’re nowhere near capable it should be age 25!! At 18 most people are still young and brains haven’t fully developed. Financially committing to another person and all the commitment that comes with that it should be much older and perhaps the divorce rates and family problems including affect in kids wouldn’t be quite so bad.

[JackyinaTracky]

Agree 100%
If you aren’t mature enough for credit, to buy cigarettes, alcohol or lottery tickets, and you cant vote or own property, how can the law possibly claim that you are fit to commit to a marriage that is intended to be for a lifetime? To be honest I’m not sure I really understood the commitment until I was 30 (not that I’m saying that should be the legal age) but I really don’t believe the average 16 year old brain can really comprehend the commitment. How can a contract between 2 people for life be enforceable when a 12 month contract between a 16 year old and virgin media would not be due to 1 party being a minor?

[Guavafish]

I think it should be 17

[Susie477]

I agree completely with Javid’s idea, for exactly the same reason as I am opposed to lowering the voting age to 16.

When I was growing up back in the 1980s, most young people left school at 16 and started work, or apprenticeships. A minority stayed on at school or went to college, and an even smaller minority went to university. The majority of 16&17 year olds were earning their own money, paying taxes & contributing to society. They were mini-adults with some degree of financial independence.

Today, times have changed and society has changed. Almost all of today’s 16&17 year olds are still in full time education and entirely financially dependent on their parents. They are very much still children. Marriage & voting should be for adults only.

[KimikosNightmare]

It will be interesting to see Sturgeon's response to this. Her first instinct is always to do exactly the opposite of Westminster.

Scots law has always credited young people as being adults, or well on the way, at an earlier age than England and The Age of Legal Capacity (S) Act 1991 codified that other than things like alcohol, tobacco, gambling etc. a 16 year old has full capacity.

I would be surprised if the Scottish Government followed suit.

[wwyd2021medicine]

I was coerced into marrying at 16. Good home, good prospects. He was abusive and I didn't feel I could ask for help. I was a scared child. Parents didn't know. Registry office in portobello Edinburgh. No one asked any questions. Wholeheartedly agree with this