why is adulthood now considered 18 when most of history people married at 14, 15, 16?

Answer 1

Because back then most families married off their children because they could not afford to care for them any longer. Also divorce was not as common as it is today. I think they should change the law to 21. Most 18 year olds are not mature enough to do anything.

G.G.

Answer 2

In the old days, people were at a rush to produce children, to help with work and also because more children did not survive to adulthood. So the more they had, the more they had chances of a few making it. Or that was the thinking, anyway. So it was best to start as early as possible.
And it was more of a burden to have to feed more people, so parents were eager to get kids married and out on their own.
Also, until modern times, society often did not view children as much other than mini-adults, way before the age of 14. When society's attitudes about that changed, the laws about children working were passed. We've grown more accustomed to wanting to give children every chance to mature. If you think about it, 18 used to be seen as fully mature, but society is raising the age even more. There are the 21 age limits, and look how many over the age of 18 still live at home.

Answer 3

I think that you'll find that the social norms for adulthood have gone past 18 and are well into the 20's now.

The reason for this is primarily that people are valuing different things in the modern Western world than we did 200-300 years ago.

The main reason is that we are living much longer. Even at the beginning of the 20th century our life span in the US were on average almost 20 years less than they are now. With shorter life spans there was a greater urgency to marry and have children.

As well and a gaining factor would be careers and money. Given that there is immense pressure on us to graduate high-school, attend university and then launch a career before having children this naturally pushed the ages forward.

I think that you'll find that most people still refer to people in university as College Kids and not adults.

To sum up what I'm saying, the term adulthood is being applied to people at a later age due to the fact that we start 'adult' activities much later in life than we have throughout history.

Answer 4

Because now that we have experienced for ourselves how how life can be, we do not want to make the mistake of rushing our children into adulthood so soon. Also there have been break throughs in medical science that have proven that most girls bodies don't completely mature until age 18. As a matter of fact I didn't stop "growing" until I was 21. Now there is no need to rush anyone into adulthood. Back then the times called for it, but, now with new knowledge and totally different circimstances there is no need. People can enjoy life as a kid longer and hopefully be better prepared for adulthood.

Answer 5

Several reasons.

Most of the "teen" marriages were arranged by the families, as still ocurs around the world -- not frequently, but often enough to be noticed.

People live longer and are mostly not in agrarian (agriculturally driven) economies, so there is less of a rush to have children for help on the farm.

The concept of childhood as a seperate part of life only came to us with the Victorians and being a teenager only became part of the societal landscape in the twentieth century.

Answer 6

well,. throughout most of history young people were essential for the survival of the community. There were no schools, there were no malls, there were no "hang out" places. Young people were needed to work farms and later, factories in order to support their family, and in order to help the community stay alive (procreate). It wasn't until the industrial revolution with new technologies and new emphasises on science that most of the industrialized world realized the necessity of education. With that idea public schools became more and more common and the idea of putting off adulthood in lieu of an education became the prevailing argument, which still exists today.

Answer 7

even though most historic people may have married at 14, 15, 16, didn't quite mean they were adults, they basically had just hit puberty and were considered old enough for marriage. it all depends on society; the society we live in discourages marriage before the age of 18, i believe it might even be illegal. we live longer these days, overall as a human population, we have more time.

Answer 8

Yes, and people used to die when they were like 35. I don't think most people reallly consider 18 to be adulthood, either... it's really more like 25. At least car rental companies see it this way! LOL.

Answer 9

Because it was different times - kids today at 14,15,16 are really just kids (dont mean to offend anyone) but things are different now. Today's kids only care about kid things (and they should - they aren't mature enough to deal with adult issues) but back in the day, they had to grow up fast (and they didn't have TV, and PS2's etc - they had to work 12 hours a day to help feed the family)

(I'm not even that old - 31, but I remember my mom sending me to walk to the store by myself at age 5 and 6, do you think you can send a 5 yr old today to walk to the store and buy milk and bread?? No way)

Answer 10

good question, why do you drive at 16, vote at 18, and drink at 21 in the states istead of drinking 16, drinking and voting 18 (like in europe)? adulthood now has to do with mental maturity rather than the maturity of the reproductive system.