Parental Consent Ages as a Factor in State Variation in Bride's Age at Marriage.

While many studies have been made of geographic variation in the age at first marriage, few have considered the effect state laws specifying the minimum legal age of marriage without parental consent can have on comparative age distributions. This paper points out that, in a state permitting earlier marriage without parental approval, brides have a lower modal age than in a similar area with an older age requirement. Since American marriage data are compiled on a basis of place of occurrence and since migration for the purpose of marriage is considerable, it is not readily ascertainable what the differences would be if comparisons were made on a residence basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]