Israel third in marriage rate under age 19

The State of Israel is ranked third to last in an international comparison of the rates of marriage of girls under the age of 19.

An international comparison between many countries which was conducted and published by the United Nations Statistical Abstract of the Child Welfare Council, shows that 15% of brides in Israel - are aged at most 19. Of the countries examined, the state of Israel is better only than the Palestinian Authority and Egypt.

The PA the percent of brides aged at most 19 stands on 51.7% and 20.1% in Egypt.

The Statistical Yearbook data shows that in 2010, 3690 women were married under the age of 19, of them 2651 were Muslims, 1139 Jews, 143 Druze and 27 Christians. This is a slight decrease compared to 2009, when 4179 brides up to the age of 19 were married. Out of the 2651 Muslim brides in 2010, it stems that 1280 of them were 18 years old, 965 were 17 and 406 were young girls up to age 16 on the day of marriage.

In states which Israel aspires to resemble, the marriage rate for girls up to age 19 is around 1.5% - a tenth of Israel's data. Britain is 2.6%, Australia's rate is 1.8%, Switzerland - 1.6%, and France stands in second place with 0.8% of girls up to age 19 of all brides in the country.

Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, CEO of the National Council for Child Welfare explains in a conversation with Behadrey Haredim that the increasing numbers which influence the percentages - are among brides of the Muslim population.

According to Dr. Kadman, the Haredi population, the change is actually for the good. "There are certain groups in the hareidi population of whom it can be said that the phenomenon is large. But it is also worth noting that it disappears and returns, it's a matter of waves."

Kadman adds: "Actually, in most of the Haredi population, the age rises and does not fall." According to him, the 'Youth of Hills' is another group in which there is a growing phenomenon of marriage of young girls and boys.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!