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[martinuzz]

The official standard is 16 in Minnesota. In Mississippi, while the standard legal age for marriage is 21, girls age 15 and boys age 17 can marry with parental consent alone, no judge needed.
In Missouri, both boys and girls can marry age 15 with parental consent alone. Under age 15 requires a judge's consent.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_marriage_in_the_United_States

[Starver]

Topically relevant, if not relevant to the thread topic, you'll have seen that France is to set their legal age of sexual consent at 15.

(Though you need to read the article to see where they are coming from (removing nuances) and then when one checks places like wikipedia (NPI!) one finds one probably doesn't comprehend something.)

[Maximum Spin]

The official standard is 16 in Minnesota.

No, the *absolute minimum possible* is 16 in Minnesota. The standard age is 18. You may be reading the chart wrong.

In Minnesota, both boys and girls can marry age 15 with parental consent alone. Under age 15 requires a judge's consent.

I also think you meant "Missouri" here.

[martinuzz]

I also think you meant "Missouri" here.

oops, yes I did let me fix that

[MorleyDev]

Other source with lower numbers, but not as close to 0 as it should be in a sane world:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/01/child-marriage-is-rare-in-the-u-s-though-this-varies-by-state/

The Independent also reported on it: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/200000-children-married-us-15-years-child-marriage-child-brides-new-jersey-chris-christie-a7830266.html
As did the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-41727495/why-does-the-us-have-so-many-child-brides

It seems the numbers were calculated with a documentary group, frontline, who did a breakdown here:
http://apps.frontline.org/child-marriage-by-the-numbers/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=frontline_2017#

[redwallzyl]

I really don't see a reason why marriage should ever be a thing for younger ages. It makes no sense. They are unable to properly understand the implications and there are no good social or societal benefits to such a marriage and its likely to end badly. It seems to be like a marry them off before they can get up to stuff kind of justification to me.

[Dunamisdeos]

I have known folks who got married with a large age gap and as a minor.

I know a couple where she was 17 and he was mid/late twenties. The parents signed off and ten years later they have like 4 kids and are ridiculously happy now. I don't really know what the motivating factor was (it was weird to me too, frankly), but they are now as standard/healthy a couple as you could imagine.

They are neither of them religious.

[smjjames]

I really don't see a reason why marriage should ever be a thing for younger ages. It makes no sense. They are unable to properly understand the implications and there are no good social or societal benefits to such a marriage and its likely to end badly. It seems to be like a marry them off before they can get up to stuff kind of justification to me.

It can also be due to political reasons, as has been done among the nobility in the past. Though they're more like pre-arranged marriages and weren't always child marriages.

[bloop_bleep]

I have known folks who got married with a large age gap and as a minor.

I know a couple where she was 17 and he was mid/late twenties. The parents signed off and ten years later they have like 4 kids and are ridiculously happy now. I don't really know what the motivating factor was (it was weird to me too, frankly), but they are now as standard/healthy a couple as you could imagine.

They are neither of them religious.

The problem is not with consensual, 17 year-old marriages. Those are mostly fine. The problem is with families sometimes pressuring their twelve or thirteen year old children into marriages they may not want, often with much older people.

[Starver]

I have known folks who got married with a large age gap and as a minor.

I know a couple where she was 17 and he was mid/late twenties. The parents signed off and ten years later they have like 4 kids and are ridiculously happy now. I don't really know what the motivating factor was (it was weird to me too, frankly), but they are now as standard/healthy a couple as you could imagine.

They are neither of them religious.

I know a couple who married at 19 and 26, with their nearly-3yo child in attendance. The child was an accident, and may have set the initially more tenuous relationship in stone, but they're still together decades later.  I think sometimes things like this go on a lot, with varying details¹, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The latter instances, and worse, are more noted and should definitely not be allowed to be too common. But I suppose you can't legislate uniformly, fairly and compassionately, without an element of precognition.

Religion played no part in any of this, but we're comparatively secular about many things around here.


¹ My own parents had more than a decade of difference between them, but neither were so young at the time of their wedding, and there was just over a year of gap between their marriage and my arrival, so 'twasn't because of/despite me at least, back in days where it might have mattered more - even amongst the unreligious.

[Sheb]

I have known folks who got married with a large age gap and as a minor.

I know a couple where she was 17 and he was mid/late twenties. The parents signed off and ten years later they have like 4 kids and are ridiculously happy now. I don't really know what the motivating factor was (it was weird to me too, frankly), but they are now as standard/healthy a couple as you could imagine.

They are neither of them religious.

I know a couple who married at 19 and 26, with their nearly-3yo child in attendance. The child was an accident, and may have set the initially more tenuous relationship in stone, but they're still together decades later.  I think sometimes things like this go on a lot, with varying details¹, and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The latter instances, and worse, are more noted and should definitely not be allowed to be too common. But I suppose you can't legislate uniformly, fairly and compassionately, without an element of precognition.

Religion played no part in any of this, but we're comparatively secular about many things around here.


¹ My own parents had more than a decade of difference between them, but neither were so young at the time of their wedding, and there was just over a year of gap between their marriage and my arrival, so 'twasn't because of/despite me at least, back in days where it might have mattered more - even amongst the unreligious.

I must say, the thought of a 23-years-old making a 16-years-old pregnant makes me feel uneasy. The difference of maturity is bound to create weird power dynamic within the couple.

[martinuzz]

Florida raised it's minimum age for purchasing weapons to 21, and added a 3 day waiting period.

So you can't just walk into a store in FLorida anymore to buy a gun. You order it, and then you can come back again 3 days later to pick up your purchase.

[JoshuaFH]

I still think three days is a little relaxed, but it's better than nothing I guess.

[Starver]

I must say, the thought of a 23-years-old making a 16-years-old pregnant makes me feel uneasy. The difference of maturity is bound to create weird power dynamic within the couple.

I didn't necessarily say that this happened this way round, I think, though I suppose I may have encouraged you to think that.

Also, knowing a little bit of the history of them both, and of other relqtions both had had along the way, I'll admit there were power dynamics (always are) but niaivity was a second fiddle to carelessness in both cases. If there was damage to be done, it was done already. And that's as far into the details as I care to go.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They don't read this forum, that I know of, but if it's up here until the Toady estate fails to pay the hosting bills I don't want to make it any more personally identifiable to them than it needs to be, and thus subject the family to any undeserved  grief that a blanket SQL query on birth and marriage certificate databases wouldn't already pick up (i.e. their and many other anomolies needing targettng for Public Moral Retribution or whatever else springs forth from the society of the future.)

[Sheb]

Yeah, of course. I was expressing more general unease than targeted at their particular case since I don't know them anywya)