Scottish Social Attitudes survey 2021/22: public attitudes to children and young people's decision making

Topline findings

The majority of surveyed adults felt that young people aged 16 to 18 should have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of say in decisions that affect their lives. The proportion believing this for those aged 11 to 15 was much smaller:

• 72% of adults felt that those aged 16 to 18 should have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of say, compared with 39% for those aged 11 to 15.
• Only 6% of adults felt that those aged 16 to 18 should have ‘not very much’ say or ‘none at all’, compared with 21% for those aged 11 to 15.

Figure 1 presents all answer categories.

Base: all respondents