Map Shows Where Child Marriage Is Still Allowed After State's Ban Starts

New Hampshire's child marriage ban went into effect on Wednesday, making it the 13th state to require people to be 18 years old to get married.

Why It Matters

Child marriage remains legal in most states, many of which allow children as young as 15 or 16 years old to get married. A handful of states have no age requirements at all for marriage. About 300,000 children have gotten married since 2000, according to Unchained at Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage.

Advocates to end child marriage say that married minors are left vulnerable on multiple fronts. They face unique challenges in breaking out of poverty, are left vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse, and may struggle to gain access to the systems intended to protect abuse victims.

A person holds a sign that reads "Stop Child Marriage" during an event in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia on March 6, 2022. New Hampshire's child marriage ban took effect on January 1. Annice Lyn/Getty Images

What to Know

New Hampshire is the latest state to end the practice. Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican who is leaving office later in January, signed a law banning child marriage last year, and it officially took effect starting in 2025.

Delaware was the first state to end child marriage in 2018. Since then, more than 10 other states have joined it in doing so. Those include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Maine is now the only northeastern state that still allows minors to get married, as it allows 17-year-olds to wed. It raised its minimum marriage age from 16 to 17 in 2023.

Four states—California, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma—still have no age restrictions on child marriage.

According to Unchained at Last, there were at least 215 minors, some as young as 13 years old, who were married in New Hampshire from 2000 to 2023.

Newsweek has reached out to Sununu's office for comment via email.

What People Are Saying

Casey Swegman, director of public policy at the Tahirih Justice Center, in a previous interview with Newsweek: "We are seeing lots of systems that you need to get out of an abusive relationship close their doors or feel not empowered to serve minors in these instances. These individuals are really spinning in circles."

Wyoming Republican Party in a letter to voters in 2023: "Since young men and women may be physically capable of begetting and bearing children prior to the age of 16, marriage MUST remain open to them for the sake of those children."

Sununu, in a statement reported by the New Hampshire Bulletin: "In 2018, New Hampshire took the first step in this process and raised the marriage age to 16. This legislation is supported by a majority of our citizens and is a common sense move that is right for New Hampshire."

What Happens Next

The battle to end child marriage will likely continue into 2025 and beyond. The bipartisan fight to pass legislation to raise minimum marriage ages to 18 may continue in various states, including those that have attempted to pass legislation in the past such as Missouri.