AGE: At What Age…are school-children employed, married and taken to court? Trends over time.

Submitted by crinadmin on

Through analysis of legal minimum ages across 187 countries, our 2011 report exposes a troubling panorama.  Focusing on four key areas - completing compulsory education, entering employment, getting married and being accorded criminal responsibility - and drawing on 18 years of reporting under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), this report reveals that:

  • only 60 out of 187 States set the minimum ages for entering employment and for completing compulsory education at the same level as each other
  • at least 74 countries have no absolute minimum age for marriage
  • in 44 States girls can marry earlier than boys -  frequently before completing their compulsory education
  • in at least 142 countries children may be taken to court and risk imprisonment for criminal acts between 6 and 15 years old, which often overlaps with the age range for compulsory education.

This report raises questions regarding the cross-section of these issues and their affect on the right to education.  The report is attached for convenience, but you may download the report at: http://www.right-to-education.org/node/53, which includes findings, analysis and recommendations for all stakeholders, as well as an annotated version with excerpts from State reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Please also join our online forum on how best to achieve this consistency in State compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at http://www.right-to-education.org/node/1668.

 

Further Information: 

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/At What Age_.pdf

Articles: 
Article 1: Definition of a child
Article 5: Parental guidance and the childs evolving capacities
Article 19: Protection from abuse and neglect
Article 40: Administration of juvenile justice
Article 3: Best interests of the child
Article 12: The childs opinion
Article 32: Child labour
Organisation: 
Right to Education Project
Attachment Link: 
http://www.crin.org/docs/At What Age_.pdf
Web: 
http://www.right-to-education.org/node/53
Link : 
http://www.crin.org/docs/At%20What%20Age_.pdf

Countries

    Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.