California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill AB 1267 on September 30, establishing 18 as the minimum age for marriage in the state with no exceptions. The legislation, developed by Unchained at Last and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and authored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, eliminates prior provisions that had permitted minors to marry with parental consent and judicial approval. The state previously had no statutory minimum marriage age. The law also removes parallel exceptions for domestic partnerships. California is now the 18th state to institute such a ban; child marriage remains legal under varying conditions in 32 other states.
The signing brought survivor voices into focus, with advocate Courtney Stodden, who was 16 when she married a 50-year-old actor with parental permission, participating in the event. Pellerin emphasized that survivors’ experiences drove the campaign, noting concerns about minors’ difficulties in accessing legal assistance, leaving home, or escaping enabling adults. The bill’s passage represents the conclusion of a nearly decade-long advocacy effort.
Globally, child marriage—defined as marriage involving a partner under 18—remains widespread. The United Nations estimates 12 million girls become child brides annually and designates the practice a human rights violation, citing risks including early pregnancy, social isolation, interrupted education, and domestic violence. The U.N. aims to end child marriage by 2030. Since 2021, nations including Sierra Leone, England, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic have enacted legislation setting marriage age at 18 without exceptions.
In the United States, federal efforts are advancing alongside state-level reforms. On July 16, U.S. Representative Gwen Moore and Senators Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz, and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the Child Marriage Prevention Act, designed to establish a nationwide minimum marriage age of 18. Congressional sponsors cited data indicating more than 314,000 minors were legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2021, with most underage girls married to adult men, including some as young as 10. Unchained At Last estimates approximately 66,415 of these marriages occurred when the bride was at an age when sexual relations would constitute a crime under state law. The organization notes that marital exemptions in statutory-rape laws shielded adult spouses from prosecution in roughly 90 percent of such cases.
Married minors frequently encounter legal barriers to obtaining attorney representation, filing for divorce, or accessing abuse protection. Advocates argue that a child’s apparent consent to marriage may not reflect a genuinely free decision, as minors may face family pressure, coaching, or threats of punishment. International observers note that permitting child marriage in the United States complicates efforts to eliminate the practice globally.
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