The Choice That Matters: Why children should have the right to vote

The arguments used to keep children from voting are nothing new. Claims that some people lack the judgement or maturity to vote were once used to exclude women, the poor, racial and ethnic minorities and colonised people. Today they are used against children.

Under-18s represent almost a third of the world's population, yet only a few countries allow 16-year-olds to vote in national elections, and no country allows anyone younger than 16 to vote. In effect, children are being treated as second-class citizens.

Our latest report brings together a decade of CRIN's research and advocacy on children's suffrage. It sets out why children's right to vote matters now, and how international human rights law can be interpreted to support it. It looks at current legal challenges to voting age limits (and the growing momentum for change), then takes apart the myths used to deny children the vote and explains why lowering the voting age is not enough. Finally, it explores what abolishing the voting age could look like in practice - evaluating models such as voting from birth, while acknowledging the barriers, safeguards and costs of reforming voting systems, as well as the other ways we can strengthen democracy.

Ultimately, CRIN is making the case for removing age limits on voting entirely. We want to encourage a new debate about an issue that's been largely ignored, including by human rights and children's rights organisations.

We don't believe this idea is radical. The voting age has historically been lowered by a couple of years every half century or so. So why wait? Especially when many people are already calling for democratic reforms. After all, if every child could vote, wouldn't this benefit both children and democracy?

Key report findings:

• Voting is a fundamental human right. No international treaty explicitly grants children the vote, but the major human rights instruments (including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child) guarantee equality, non-discrimination and participation for 'everyone', with no pre-determined age limit.

• Linking the vote to adulthood is relatively recent. It only emerged in the early 20th century, when women won the right to vote. The idea that voting requires adult skills is fallible, and easy to disprove.

• Exclusion has lasting consequences. Decisions made today on issues like the environmental crisis and public debt will shape children's futures in ways later policy cannot undo.

• Children want to be heard. Children are voicing their concerns about social and environmental issues such as the climate crisis, inequality and discrimination, education, social media and mental health. Much of this activism is a response to being disenfranchised.

• Democracy needs its youngest citizens. Democratic systems are being challenged around the world. By giving under-18s the vote, we could help renew them, complimenting other approaches such as participatory and deliberative democracy.