Equality Bill fails to protect children from unfair treatment

Monday 27 April 2009

Children's charities today accuse the Government of failing to protect children from discrimination.

The Equality Bill, published on Monday 27 April, will make it illegal to treat people unfairly in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of age - unless they are under 18.

Ministers say the new legislation is designed to give everyone a fair chance in life. But they insist that there is "little evidence" of harmful discrimination against young people and so they will be excluded from the new law.

The Young Equals coalition - whose members include NCB, the Children's Rights Alliance for England, The Children's Society and Save the Children - has today published Making the Case [PDF 370 KB], which strongly refutes this claim and questions why the Government is really failing to extend legal protection from age discrimination to under-18s. This dossier of evidence brings together a wide range of examples of discrimination against children and young people, including:

  • Children being unfairly refused entry to public services such as libraries, leisure centres, sports facilities, museums and art galleries
  • Babies and their parents facing difficulties using public transport, including being refused access to buses due to inadequate space for and intolerance of prams
  • Ambulance services failing to take children's calls seriously
  • The installation of high-frequency "mosquito" devices to deter teenagers by giving out a high-pitched noise, which can also be heard by babies and young children who may be unable to alert carers to their distress

 

If children and young people are not protected by the Equality Bill, this discriminatory treatment based on age will be allowed to continue. 

Young Equals is calling on the Government to give children legal protection from age discrimination in the Equality Bill. Such a move would prevent unfair treatment based on age but would still allow for justifiable age limits on products and services inappropriate for children, including alcohol and cigarettes.

Other recommendations include placing a requirement on public transport providers and public buildings to make reasonable adjustments for babies and young children with their parents and carers.

For more information please contact: Zoë Renton, Policy Officer, 020 7843 6005, zrenton@ncb.org.uk.