In America, many states still allow child marriages between the ages of 14 and 17. In some cases, children have been married at age 12 and younger. What are the dangers of being a child bride or groom? Are there any benefits?

Child marriages are a global problem that can lead to dangerous and devastating consequences.

In America, the marriageable age is determined by states, and many still allow child marriages between the ages of fourteen to seventeen with parental or judicial consent.

There are some cases where children have married at age twelve and younger.

What are the dangers of being a child bride or groom? Are there any benefits?

I don't believe that's the case in the state where I live (Calif.). My guess is that within the state where it's legal, there may be a culture for which this is a useful practice. Perhaps there are large families with many children, and education is not necessarily revered (or readily available). Perhaps it is difficult to earn enough to feed many mouths. Perhaps effective birth control is not an option, for the parent, or the adolescent daughter. Much to consider.

Jan--sadly, your and my home-state of California does still allow child marriage. In fact, most states do.

Although the minimum marriage age is 18 in most states, exceptions to that requirement in all but six states leave the door open for children to wed. In California, a person under 18 can marry with the consent of one parent and a judge, following a review of the case that includes interviews with the parties involved. The state is one of only nine in the nation that do not set a minimum age for marriage. There is no federal law banning child marriage.

...A recent study ... conducted with McGill University and other research entities estimates that almost 23,600 child marriages took place in California between 2000 and 2018. Those figures were based on U.S. Census Bureau data and the number of child marriages reported in other states.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the study found that the vast majority of minors married across the country were girls wed to older men (on average four years older). Most were 16 or 17 years old, but more than 9,000 marriages involved children under 16. These included 1,233 children age 14, 78 age 13, and five 10-year-olds.

https://www.calhealthreport.org/2021/09/10/california-laws-dont-prevent-minors-from-marrying-adults/

I wonder if anyone has studied the relationship between “child brides” and the rate of these girls not surviving childbirth. I would think that might be one of the biggest risks - young girls who are not physically strong enough to deliver babies successfully.

kayd--I don't know of any stats for maternal mortality by age (but I'm sure they exist) but you probably already know that the US has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world:
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-brief-report/2020/dec/maternal-mortality-united-states-primer
It also has a high infant mortality rate compared to other countries, and the stats under the infant mortality tab here show it highest among mothers aged 15-19:
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/health-of-women-and-children/measure/IMR_MCH

I am going to assume that exceptions are documented somewhere in state records, but in general, a marriage between two consenting individuals requires a level of maturity that has not fully developed in one's teen years. Despite family support, established religious communities, financial stability of one or both parties, a strong lasting marriage would be extremely challenging if initiated at a young age.

I honestly can't think of any positives to child marriage. The couple and any children of the union are at much higher risk for poverty due to lack of education and immaturity, physical, sexual, emotional abuse, severe illness due lack of medical care due to poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. I am sure there are more negatives, but I just can't think of them.

Occasionally there are couples who do make a go of it, are able to dig out of the poverty, raise productive and happy children, and enjoy a long fulfilling marriage. Sadly, I haven't heard of many of these.

I live in NYS and the law has defined the age of consent at 18 for a very long time. My own mother went to Maryland at age 17 to marry without parental consent. A very good friend was married at 16 with parental consent. Most of the child marriages in my rural area were because of pregnancy and both the bride and groom were children.

I live in NC and both parties must be 18 years old to marry. I also read that with parental consent both parties can be married at 16 and as young as 14 in the case of a pregnancy. In my opinion 18 should be the minimum 18 to get married. Even with parental consent 16 and younger even with a pregnancy is too young. I would suggest most marriages at the ages below 18 end in divorce and I wonder what the statistics are for domestic abuse. As mentioned in another thread a young woman below 18 may have a difficult time with a pregnancy as she is still growing! Even with the knowledge that some marriages are successful with parents below 18 why sanction it. The young ages to marry are based on times when life expectancy was not as long as today and children of 14 and older were considered adults.

I see no benefit to anyone marrying that young. We are living in an age of the necessity of being educated and ability to fend for ourselves. Teen marriages so often put the female in a dependency situation that if she if abused there is no way out as she has neither the means or way of supporting herself to escape. Teen brains are in no way ready for that kind of commitment.

I cannot see any benefit to marry that young. Most age limitations for other things are 18 or 21 years. I have heard that the male brain is still developing at the age of 17 - hence the difference in juvenile and adult court proceedings. I think it is criminal and should stay that way. Parents need to protect their children until they are of lawful age and mature enough to enter into a union like marriage.

I read this question again and it suddenly hit me: My maternal grandmother (Granny) married at 14 to my maternal grandfather (age 16) in 1912 and they had their twin daughters (my mother and my aunt) at ages 16 and 18 respectively in 1914. They struggled financially in the early years of their marriage and then the Great Depression and Dirty 30s (living in SW Kansas) hit, leaving them absolutely destitute. My grandfather had a severe stroke at age 36 and died at age 41. My Granny was absolutely wonderful; she made her four granddaughters' childhoods charmed. But I know that childhood and young adulthood for my mother and her twin sister were incredibly difficult. My mother always said that they raised their parents. Having children doesn't always ensure maturity.