Discrimination against the young is widespread and damaging to family life
 
The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) is today (Sunday 28 February 2010) releasing the results of an ICM poll showing discrimination against the young is widespread in England.
 
CRAE has previously given Ministers and officials published research and testimonies from children, parents and carers showing the damage to individuals and family life caused by negative attitudes and disrespectful treatment. Yet the Government has resisted attempts by both MPs and Peers to give children and young people the same protection from unfair treatment as adults will enjoy, once Harriet Harman’s Equality Bill is passed.
 
This new ICM poll shows that half (49%) of 7 to 17 year-olds have experienced unfair treatment because of their age.

• More than a quarter of 7 to 17 year-olds and 40% of 16 and 17 year-olds have been treated unfairly because of their age when out shopping
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of 7 to 17 year-olds and half of 16 and 17 year-olds have been treated unfairly because of their age when using public transport
• More than 1 in 5 of 7 to 17 year-olds and a quarter of 7 to 9 year-olds have been treated unfairly because of their age when using local sports, leisure or play facilities 
• Nearly 1 in 5 of 7 to 17 year-olds and a third of 16 and 17 year-olds have been treated unfairly because of their age when visiting a café or restaurant.

Carolyne Willow, CRAE’s national co-ordinator, says:

The evidence is unequivocal – children and young people face discrimination wherever they go. This is harmful to the individuals concerned and an attack on family life. When children whose parents are at work are turned away by the ambulance service, or buses drive past parents with pushchairs, or sixth-formers celebrating exams are forced to pay upfront in a restaurant, this causes offence and  upset to the whole family.     
 
Carolyne Willow continues:

It sounds like a bad joke – a new law banning age discrimination which discriminates against people because of their age! Of course children shouldn’t have exactly the same treatment as adults, but neither does the Equality Bill propose that a 25 year-old should have exactly the same health or social care as an 80 year-old. Other countries like Australia have introduced equal protection for all and it’s working really well. Everyone should be protected by equality laws, whilst making provision for people’s differences: a law which deliberately excludes a fifth of the population is not something to be proud of.   

Barbara Hearn, Deputy Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau adds:

Equality is for everyone, including for our youngest citizens. It is astonishing that in the 21st century we still make negative assumptions about children in these everyday settings.

More details
Carolyne Willow, CRAE national co-ordinator
Mobile 07949 434 787

NB 16 year-old Jessica Robinson who is leading a Facebook campaign (2,000 members) to end age discrimination against teenagers is available for interview this weekend. She has spoken in Parliament and at two party conferences (Labour and Liberal Democrats) about this issue.

Notes for editors
 

1. The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) is a coalition of over 270 voluntary and statutory organisations committed to the full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
2. ICM conducted telephone interviews with 1,001 7-17 year-olds between 10 and 21 February 2010. 
3. In October 2008, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended urgent action by the UK Government to tackle ‘a general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children, especially adolescents’. 
4. The Equality Bill was introduced into the Commons by Equality Minister Harriet Harman in April 2009. The Bill includes measures to outlaw age discrimination for over 18 year-olds. Peers are expected to push for stronger measures to protect children and young people when the Bill reaches Report Stage in the Lords on Tuesday 9 March.  
5. There are 11 million under 18 year-olds in England. 
6. NCB’s mission is to advance the well-being of all children and young people across every aspect of their lives. As a membership and infrastructure support agency for the children’s sector in England and Northern Ireland, NCB provides essential information on policy, research and best practice for our members and the members of our wide range of partnership bodies which operate under our charitable status and are based in our London headquarters. For further information visit www.ncb.org.uk

 ENDS