How Many Child Brides Each Year?

The global number of child brides is now estimated at 650 million, including girls under age 18 who have already married and adult women who married in childhood. Despite advancements in many fronts over the years, recent events have set back progress. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF estimates that 100 million girls were projected to marry before age 18. Enabling child marriage in these countries by 2030 would cost just $35 billion, roughly $600 to spare each child bride. Existing laws against child marriage should be changed.

Every year, 12 million girls marry before the age of 18, and 1 in 5 girls in the world are married before 18. Child marriage has continued to decline around the world, with the proportion of young women who were married as children decreasing by 15% in the past decade. In developing countries, the rates of child marriage are still too high.

The Central African Republic has the highest prevalence of child marriage among males (28%), followed by Nicaragua (19%) and Madagascar (13%). The new estimates bring the total number of child brides and child grooms to 765 million. Girls remain disproportionately affected, with 1 in 5 young brides dying every year due to pregnancy or childbirth complications.

Between 2010 and 2020, it is estimated that 142 million girls will marry as children. Child marriage is a violation of human rights, and every year, around 12 million girls are married, two million before their 15th birthday.

How many children are getting married?

Read our article in the Journal of Adolescent Health! VIEW PDF. Summary: The US has a child marriage problem, but there’s a simple solution. About 300,000 minors were legally married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018. Some were as young as 10, but most were 16 or 17. Most were girls married to adult men four years older. Child marriage is dangerous. Even at 16 or 17, child marriage is dangerous.

1. Minors can be forced into marriage because they don’t have the right to file for divorce.

Can a 14 year old get married in Texas?

You must be at least 18 to marry. You must be 18 to marry. If you’re between 16 and 18, you need parental consent or a court order to marry. If you’re under 16, you need a court order to marry.

In what country is child marriage most common?

Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriage. South Asia has almost half of all child brides worldwide. India accounts for one-third of the global total.

How common are child brides in the US?

Demographics In 2018, Alissa Koski and Jody Heymann, two researchers from the University of California Los Angeles, studied child marriage in the U.S. The findings were published in their article, “Child Marriage in the United States.” How common is child marriage in the US? Child marriage in the US. They found that about 6 children out of every 1,000 were married. The number of marriages varied by location, race/ethnicity, gender, and age. Unchained At Last found marriage licenses for 232,474 children between 2000 and 2018. Based on the number of children in the US, they estimated that the actual number of child marriages was closer to 300,000. Young girls are more likely to be married than young boys. According to the Pew Research Center, 55% of married children aged 15–17 were girls. According to a Frontline article, 87% of minors who got married in 2000–2015 were girls. Koski and Heymann found that girls were more likely to be married than boys (6.8 vs. 5.7 per 1,000, or ~19% difference). Most statistics and literature on child marriages focus on female minors. The Unchained At Last study found that 86% of children who married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 were girls. Most were married to adult men four years older. The Pew Research Center says child marriage is more common in some Southern states.

Which country has the most child brides?

Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world. In this West African country, more than three-quarters of girls under 18 were married. Nearly 30% of them were under 15. The Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali also had high rates, from 61 to 54 percent. This issue is common in many African countries. In many of these countries, girls can get married at a younger age than boys. In Niger and Chad, girls can marry at 15 and boys at 18. In Guinea, the legal age for marriage is 17 for girls and 18 for boys. Child marriage is often about money. Poor families marry their girls to get money for the wedding and to have fewer mouths to feed.

What country has the youngest age to marry?

In some countries, boys can be married at 10, 13, 15, or 16 or 17. Girls are less protected than boys under marriage age laws.

• Journal List
• Taylor & Francis Open Select
• PMC6382347

Marriage of children below 18 is a global practice that hinders the development and well-being of hundreds of millions of girls. We analyze national legislation regarding minimum marriage age, exceptions, and gender disparities. While some countries have banned child marriage, many still allow it. And even when it is banned, women are still treated differently.

KEYWORDS: Child marriage, early marriage, minimum marriage age, gender discrimination, gender inequality, comparative law, marriage law, family law, child rights, cross-national analysis, international treaties, conventions.

Can 10 year olds get married in California?

The minimum age to marry varies by state. Seven states have no minimum age. UNICEF USA is working with Unchained at Last to end child marriage in the United States. Eleven U.S. states have banned marriage before 18 with no exceptions. California could be next.

Ask your elected officials to end child marriage with no exceptions. Child marriage violates children’s rights. Janette was 14 and in ninth grade in Southern California when she met her future husband, who was 21. Her mom let him sleep on the couch. I wondered why he was there. Next thing I know, I’m at his place, said Janette, now an activist working to end child marriage. I know now. She got me.

What age do girls marry in Iran?

Religion: Iranian law says girls can get married at 13 and boys at 15, but they can marry younger with their dad’s permission and a judge’s OK. This has made child marriage seem OK.

Family honor: Some families marry off their young daughters to improve their status. Girls are also married off early to stop them having sex and dishonoring the family.

Displacement: Iran hosts almost one million Afghan refugees and around 2.5 million Afghan residents. Afghanistan has a lot of child marriages, and girls are at risk of being married off because of displacement. Families see child marriage as a way to cope with economic hardship and protect girls from violence.

Which religion has the most child brides?

Buddhists have the highest number of child brides in urban areas.

How many child marriages happen in the UK?

The Office for National Statistics says there are very few cases of child marriage in the UK. In 2020, the highest rates of forced marriage were in London, the West Midlands, the North West, the South East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East, the East Midlands, the South West, Wales, and Scotland.

FMUs focus on countries where there is a risk of forced marriage. In 2020, the FMU handled cases from Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, India, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

What percentage of people are child brides?

How many child brides are there? About 650 million women alive today were married before they were 18. 21% of girls worldwide are married before 18. That’s 12 million girls under 18 every year—or 22 girls every minute. Why do children get married? There are many reasons for child marriage. The reasons for child marriage vary from place to place. Child brides come from the world’s poorest countries. Poverty, family honor, family protection, social norms, and religious beliefs can all lead to children being forced into marriage.