The age for getting hitched varies around the world, depending on which country you’re born but most allow for the blessed union when you’re in your teenage years.
The average across the globe is 16 for girls and 17 for boys, with many countries allowing for younger weddings with parental approval.
The most constant finding, unsurprisingly, is that in most places, the marrying age for girls is lower than their male counterparts.
Australia and New Zealand allow love-struck 16-year-olds of either gender to marry as do The Netherlands, Malta, Jamaica and Kyrgyzstan. Brunei and Saudi Arabia also have no age disparity for both sexes, but at a much younger age of 13 and 10 respectively.
If you want to tie the knot in China you need t0 get out of your teens first, with the country making the lovelorn wait till 22 for men and 20 for women. The higher-age wait is a result of the Chinese population Control Policy, which aims to minimize the number of children couples can have.
Countries with a larger gap between the sexes ages include India at 21 for men and 18 for women, Democratic Republic of Congo,18,15 and Trindad and Tobago 16,12.
Many countries without an official register often have younger marriages, with many girls being forced to become child brides. This list only refers to registered marriages given parental approval.
Girls Not Brides is a global campaign that aims to protect the girl child from the forced early marriage, calling for a blanket age of 18 worldwide. According to the organisation, the combination of poverty, gender roles and security are all factors that increase the probability of girls being rushed to the altar.
Their website states that, “approximately 15 million girls are married as children across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities.”
via chartsbin.com
