Question: Why is 18 the legal age of adulthood?

Age of majority








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The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when minors cease to be considered such and assume legal control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thus terminating the control and legal responsibilities of their parents or guardian over them. Most countries set the age of majority at 18. The word majority here refers to having greater years and being of full age as opposed to minority, the state of being a minor. The law in a given jurisdiction may not actually use the term "age of majority". The term typically refers to a collection of laws bestowing the status of adulthood. The age of majority does not necessarily correspond to the mental or physical maturity of an individual.
Age of majority should not be confused with the age of maturity, age of sexual consent, marriageable age, school-leaving age, drinking age, driving age, voting age, smoking age, gambling age, etc., which each may be independent of and set at a different age from the age of majority.
Although a person may attain the age of majority in a particular jurisdiction, they may still be subject to age-based restrictions regarding matters such as the right to vote or stand for elective office, act as a judge, and many others.
Explanation
Age of majority can be confused with the similar concept of the age of license,[1] which also pertains to the threshold of adulthood but in a much broader and more abstract way. As a legal term of art, "license" means "permission", and it can implicate a legally enforceable right or privilege. Thus, an age of license is an age at which one has legal permission from government to do something. The age of majority, on the other hand, is legal recognition that one has grown into an adult.[2]
Age of majority pertains solely to the acquisition of the legal control over one's person, decisions and actions, and the correlative termination of the legal authority of the parents (or guardian(s), in lieu of parent(s)) over the child’s person and affairs generally.
Many ages of license are correlated to the age of majority, but they are nonetheless legally distinct concepts. One need not have attained the age of majority to have permission to exercise certain rights and responsibilities. Some ages of license are actually higher than the age of majority. For example, to purchase alcoholic beverages, the age of license is 21 in all U.S. states. Another example is the voting age, which prior to the 1970s was 21 in the US, as was the age of majority in all or most states.[3] In the Republic of Ireland the age of majority is 18, but one must be over 21 years of age to stand for election to the Houses of the Oireachtas.[4] Also, in Portugal the age of majority is 18, but one must be at least 25 years of age to run for public office.[5] A child who is legally emancipated by a court of competent jurisdiction automatically attains to their maturity upon the signing of the court order. Only emancipation confers the status of maturity before a person has actually reached the age of majority.
In almost all places, minors who are married are automatically emancipated. Some places also do the same for minors who are in the armed forces or who have a certain degree or diploma.[6]
Civil law

In many countries minors can be emancipated: depending on jurisdiction, this may happen through acts such as marriage, attaining economic self-sufficiency, obtaining an educational degree or diploma, or participating in a form of military service. In the United States, all states have some form of emancipation of minors.[7]
The following list the age of majority in countries (or administrative divisions) in the order of lowest to highest:




Up to age 15
 Saudi Arabia[8] – age of majority is based on physical signs of puberty (bulugh), with age 15 as the upper limit.
 Iran[9] – 9 lunar years (female only), 15 lunar years (male only)
Age 15






 Indonesia[10]

 Myanmar[11]

 Yemen[12][note 1]

Age 16






 Cambodia[13]
 Cuba[14]

 Kyrgyzstan[15]
 Palestine

 Pakistan[16] (female only)
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Scotland
 Vietnam[17]

Age 17






 North Korea[18]

 Tajikistan[19]

 Timor-Leste[20]

Age 18






 Afghanistan
 Albania[21]
 American Samoa[22]
 Andorra[23]
 Antigua and Barbuda[24]
 Argentina[25][note 2]
 Angola[26][note 3]
 Armenia
 Australia[27]
 Austria[28]
 Azerbaijan
 Bahamas[29]
 Bangladesh
 Barbados[30]
 Belarus[31]
 Belgium[32]
 Belize[33]
 Bhutan
 Bolivia
 Bosnia and Herzegovina[34]
 Botswana
 Brazil [note 4]
 Brunei
 Bulgaria
 Burundi
 Canada[35]
 Alberta
 Manitoba
 Ontario
 Prince Edward Island
 Quebec
 Saskatchewan
 Chile
 China[36]
 Colombia
 Costa Rica
 Croatia [note 5]
 Cyprus
 Czech Republic[37][note 6]
 Denmark (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland)[38]
 Djibouti[39]
 Dominica
 Dominican Republic[40]
 Ecuador
 Egypt[41]
 El Salvador[42]
 Estonia
 Fiji

 Finland[43]
 France[44][note 7]
 Germany[45]
 Georgia
 Ghana
 Greece[46]
 Guatemala
 Guinea
 Guinea-Bissau[47]
 Guyana
 Haiti
 Hong Kong[48]
 Hungary
 Iceland
 India[49]
 Iraq[50][note 8]
Ireland[51]
 Israel
 Italy
 Jamaica
 Japan (2022–)[52]
 Jordan
 Kazakhstan[53]
 Kenya[54][55][note 9]
 Laos
 Latvia
 Lebanon
 Liechtenstein
 Lithuania
 Luxembourg
 Macau
 Macedonia
 Malawi[56]
 Malaysia[57]
 Malta[58]
 Mauritania
 Mauritius
 Mexico[59]
 Moldova
 Monaco
 Mongolia
 Montenegro
 Nepal
 Netherlands[60][note 10]
 Nigeria
 Norway[61]
 Oman[62]

 Pakistan (male only)[63]
 Palau[64]
 Panama
 Peru
 Philippines[65]
 Poland[66] [note 11]
 Portugal
 Qatar
 Romania ("Minimum legal age in Romania")
 Russia [note 12][67]
 Rwanda
 Saint Kitts and Nevis[68]
 Seychelles
 Slovakia
 Slovenia
 Somalia
 South Africa[69][70][note 13]
 Spain[71][72][note 14]
 Sri Lanka[73]
 Sudan[74]
 Sweden[75]
 Switzerland[76]
 Syria
 Serbia
 Tanzania
 Trinidad and Tobago
 Tunisia[77]
 Turkey[78]
 Uganda[79]
 Ukraine[80]
United Kingdom[81]
 England
 Wales[82]
 Northern Ireland[83][84]
 Crown dependencies
 Isle of Man[85]
 Jersey[86]
 Gibraltar[87]
 Guernsey[88]
United States:[89] all states and territories except for those listed below
 Uruguay
 Uzbekistan[90]
 Vatican City
 Venezuela
 Zimbabwe

Age 19






 Algeria[91]

 Canada
 Nova Scotia
 New Brunswick
 British Columbia
 Newfoundland and Labrador
 Northwest Territories
 Yukon
 Nunavut

 South Korea[92]
 United States
 Alabama[93]
 Nebraska[94]

Age 20






 Japan (–2022)[52]
 New Zealand[95]

 Paraguay
 Taiwan
 Thailand

Age 21






 Bahrain[96]
 Cameroon[97]
 Côte d'Ivoire[98]
 Gabon[99]
 Grenada[100]
 Honduras[96]

 Kuwait[101]
 Lesotho[96]
 Madagascar[102]
 Namibia[96]
 Samoa
 Singapore[103]

 Swaziland[96]
 United Arab Emirates
 United States
 Mississippi[104]
 Puerto Rico
 Zambia[56]

Religious law
Religions have their own rules as to the age of maturity, when a child is regarded to be an adult, at least for ritual purposes:
Islam: A person having reached the age of 15 or having entered puberty before that age is considered bulugh (adult).
Judaism: 13 years of age for males (Bar Mitzvah) and 12 years of age for females (Bat Mitzvah). Such persons are considered adults.[105]
Roman Catholic Church: 18 years of age.[106]
See also

Age of candidacy
Age of consent
Age of criminal responsibility
Emancipation of minors
Legal drinking age
Marriageable age
Mature minor doctrine
Secular coming-of-age ceremony
Voting age
Youth rights
Youth suffrage
Youth

Notes