Leaders of the Social Democrats (SPD) and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union parties said they had agreed on a proposed law to ban marriage for anyone under 18, according to a report on Tuesday by Die Welt.
A spokesperson from the Union parties also confirmed the agreement to DPA.
Currently, 18 is the minimum age for marriage, but with parental consent and court permission, 16-year-olds are allowed to marry adults.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas made the new proposal amid reports of hundreds of childrenarriving as refugees in Germany, already married to adults.
The proposed law would mean that marriages involving children under 16 would become invalid, including those performed abroad. The legal marriageable age is also planned to be raised to 18.
Categories: Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Germany
i think 16 years is ok
quote: World Health Organization (WHO) report on sexual habits among teenagers in 26 European countries reveals that German teens are quick off the mark when it comes to losing their cherry; the average age at which Germans — both boys and girls — first have sex is 16.2. unquote http://www.spiegel.de/international/european-sex-survey-teens-from-germany-iceland-ditch-virginity-early-a-454492.html
For those who think ‘marriage age’ and ‘age of start of sexual activity’ should be the same therefore a minimum marriage age of 18 is unrealistic. What does ‘average’ mean: “some later and some earlier”.