system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: All states should set the Minimum Marriage Age to at least 18 (Both male and female)

For the states that have the minimum marriage age set to younger than 18, they all need parental consent. I really think if you are two young to sign yourself away to someone else, you shouldn't be getting married.

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Heck, in some states, females can get married as young as 12 and 14 (MA, AK, VT). What 12/14 year old should be getting married if they can't even support themselves economically (OK, unless you inherit a great deal of money, but that's not the majority of the population). And  they'd need parental consent to get married, get a job, pretty much do anything? Looking at all the child marriage problem in the world, it essentially ends their childhood, curtails their education, and minimize their economical  opportunities. And if sex ed wasn't taught properly it really risks the health of both parties and the risk of teenage pregnancy is much higher.

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I did not look into when this law was last changed, but maybe if this was the 1800s the age would make more sense since people did have a shorter life span. But this is the 21st century we are talking about... happy to hear how we can justify the age.
gpt
Why 18, why not set it to 24 when people’s brains are fully developed and are more likely to choose a better parter and stay married?

I can see it in cases of teen pregnancy where the teens are living together and sharing assets with a child.  Marriage protects their mutual assets and has tax benefits.  Are you ok in denying these people — most especially the children born in this marriage who are also the most likely to be disadvantaged economically the financial advantages of marriage?

People weren’t getting married as teens because they had shorter lives, they were getting married because they were teens who wanted to have a sexual relationship.  This hasn’t changed, but social norms have.