In recent years, the concept of shèngnǚ or “remaining women” (剩女) has been created by state media and the government to pressure women to marry earlier. [35] State media often publish articles about women who regret their decision not to marry early and highlight the consequences of marrying at an older age. [35] These “remaining women” are stigmatized as abnormal and not feminine, because remaining single means that the woman`s traditional role as a wife is not respected despite her successes in the workplace. [35] Full parental control over child marriage decisions is rare in China today, but parental involvement in decision-making now takes a different form. Parental involvement can range from introducing potential spouses to advising on marriage decisions. Since the family is an important institution in Chinese culture, parents may no longer have absolute control, but they continue to have influence over their children`s marriage decisions. Marriage decisions are important to parents because families are understood not only in the present, but as lineages that exist over time and in which living generations pay homage to ancestors. [5] In addition, women are generally expected to marry men who are economically better off than they are, in a practice called hypergamy. [27] Thus, marriage can be beneficial for the whole family.
In California, the applicable law is found in California Family Code Sections 302 and 304 (2019): “An unmarried person under the age of 18 may obtain a marriage certificate upon receipt of a court order authorizing the person or persons to marry in accordance with the requirements described in Section 304.” [11] Historically, Section 56 of the California Civil Code (1872) established 15 as the age at which a woman could marry without her parents` consent. In 1921, the age was raised to 18. [12] On September 10, 1980, the Marriage Law of the People`s Republic of China was passed as an amended law from the 1950 Marriage Law. [10] The 1950 Marriage Law was the first legal document of the People`s Republic of China to deal with matrimonial and family law. The 1980 Marriage Act followed the same format as the 1950 Act, but was amended in 2001 to introduce and synthesize a national family planning code. [11] This marriage law abolished the feudal matrimonial system, which included arranged marriages, male superiority, and disregard for the interests of children. [12] This law also guaranteed the right to divorce and free marriage. [13] According to the U.S. Department of State`s 2014 Human Rights Report on Trinidad and Tobago, Muslims and Hindus have their own marriage laws, while the official family age for both men and women is 18. Muslims can marry at 16 for men and 12 for girls, while Hindus can marry at 18 and 14. The table shows the age of Muslim marriage.
Also, under normal circumstances, 14-year-old women and 16-year-old men could be considered physically mature. Marriage is one of the civil rights of citizens. Raising the legal age of marriage forces physically mature young people to wait more than six years to marry, which can lead to phenomena such as cohabitation, which affect the solemnity of marriage as well as the marriage registration system. If at least one of the spouses has not reached the general age of marriage, the marriage is considered a minor and may require parental consent and/or court approval. Young people can also marry in “exceptional circumstances”. It is estimated that 76% of Nigerien girls marry before the age of 18 and 28% before the age of 15, according to a report by Humanium. According to UNICEF, Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world, placing it at the top of the international rankings. Children in rural areas are more affected in this country than children in urban areas. Apart from this, educated girls are less likely to be exposed to this practice than those who have not had the opportunity to attend school. The poorer the family, the more likely it is that the girl will be exposed to this practice for economic reasons. The current legal age of marriage in China is the highest compared to other countries as well as in China`s history, while the legal age of marriage in most countries is between 16 and 18 years. Cui Hun (催婚) is a widespread phenomenon in China that parents and relatives put pressure on unmarried people and encourage them to marry before the age of 30, especially women.
In China, most parents hope that their children will be able to marry earlier, around the age of 30 or earlier. Delaware, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island,[21] New York, and New Jersey do not allow underage marriage. Other states allow a minor to marry under the following circumstances: Nude marriage (裸婚, luǒhūn) is a recent Chinese slang invented in 2008 to describe the growing number of marriages between partners who do not yet have significant assets. The “Five No`s” are: no ring, no ceremony, no honeymoon, no house and no car. [31] This practice violates the tradition that a groom should offer a new place to his future wife, or at least that the couple`s families should provide them with a material basis to care for their future grandchildren. However, in order for marriage to be legally recognized and protected by law and government, marriage must be registered with the government in accordance with the Marriage Act. [32] The practice also protects the groom`s family from an expensive marriage, the average cost of which has reportedly increased 4,000-fold over the past 30 years. [31] In 6 states, a 21-year-old cannot marry a person under the age of 18 – Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada. In 1 state, Florida, a 20-year-old cannot marry someone under the age of 18. In 3 states, Georgia, Tennessee, and Ohio, a 22-year-old cannot marry someone under the age of 18. In Indiana, this is also most often true, although a 21-year-old can marry a 17-year-old.
Marriage laws have also imposed an age limit for conjugal unions to encourage an older age of marriage. However, the law appears to have the opposite effect, as it appears to lower the age at which couples marry. In 1978, the average age of marriage for women in rural and urban areas was 22.4 and 25.1 years, respectively, and under the Marriage Act of 1980 it fell to 21.0 years in the decade following the enactment of the law. [20] In the mid-twentieth century, there were also changes in the occurrence of dowry and payments for wives, as these were no longer as common. However, reports in recent years seem to suggest that these customs are still practiced in some areas and may even increase as the government has relaxed its strict prohibitions on these practices. [6] People in England and Wales can marry at the age of 18 or, with parental consent, at the age of 16 or 17. Based on the national conditions of the time, the Chinese government raised the legal age of marriage in the 1980 marriage law by two years from that of 1950 to align it with the one-child policy. After decades, China`s birth rate is now below the global average, resulting in a significant demographic divide. Here`s a look at some countries and their legal age of marriage and how they compare to India. The increase in the divorce rate coincided with the decline in the marriage rate. Therefore, lowering the legal age of marriage is not enough to change the attitude of young men and women towards starting a family.
Currently, there are more men than women in China, and women of all age groups are more likely to marry than their male counterparts. [37] This will therefore affect both long-term population growth in China and the number of working-age people available in China, which is why the government considers it necessary to persuade women to marry earlier. [37] Since the opening-up and reform phase in the 1980s, more and more women have a university degree and are now reluctant to engage in married life so soon after graduation, with women choosing to be more career-oriented. [35] Another dynamic is reverse hypergamy, in which men prefer to marry women younger than themselves, earning comparatively less than their counterparts and coming from a “lower” background than the man himself. [38] There is an inevitable value gap between two generations when it comes to who and when they marry.