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Sources · Votes at 16

This house would lower the voting age to 16.

Fact bank v1 · 12 cards

  1. V16-01True

    “16 and 17 year olds can already vote in Scotland and Wales.”

    Confirmed: in Scotland and Wales, 16 and 17 year olds can vote for the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament) and their local councils. But they still cannot vote in UK general elections.

    Scotland first let 16 and 17 year olds vote in the 2014 independence referendum, then made it permanent in 2015. Wales followed, starting with the 2021 Senedd election. In England and Northern Ireland, and in UK general elections everywhere, the voting age is still 18. The UK government's Representation of the People Bill would lower it to 16 for all UK elections. It passed the House of Commons on 2 September 2026 and was still being looked at by the House of Lords in mid-October 2026, so it was not yet law. You would still have to be 18 to stand as a candidate.

    “The devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales have lowered the voting age for devolved elections to 16.”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗

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  2. V16-02Mostly true

    “16 and 17 year olds pay tax just like adults, so they should get a say.”

    Mostly true: 16 and 17 year olds pay the same taxes as adults if they earn enough. Income Tax is only due on income over £12,570 a year. National Insurance starts at 16, but only on pay over £242 a week. A teenager who earns less than these amounts pays neither of them.

    These are the amounts for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. Anyone who buys things also pays VAT, which is 20% on most goods and services, and that is true for younger children too. Once they reach school leaving age, young people can work up to 40 hours a week. But in England they must stay in education or training until 18, for example by studying part-time alongside 20 or more hours a week of work or volunteering. The UK government says 16 and 17 year olds should be able to vote because they can work, pay tax and serve in the military.

    “You pay mandatory National Insurance if you’re 16 or over and are either: an employee earning more than £242 per week from one job”
    GOV.UK (UK government)·National Insurance: introductionGovernment / parliament · 6 Apr 2026 ↗

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  3. V16-03Mostly false

    “At 16 you can get married, so you should be old enough to vote.”

    Not in England and Wales any more. Since February 2023, you have to be 18 to marry or form a civil partnership there. Scotland has its own rules.

    Scotland and Northern Ireland set their own marriage rules. In 2022, the House of Lords Library said people in Scotland could marry at 16 without a parent's permission. Some things do start at 16: you can leave school and work up to 40 hours a week, and the government says 16 and 17 year olds can serve in the military. Other things wait until 18, like buying alcohol or cigarettes. An expert panel set up by the Welsh Parliament found there is no single age at which young people get all adult rights and duties.

    “From February 2023, those aged 16 and 17 years were no longer able to marry or enter a civil partnership in England and Wales”
    Office for National Statistics·Marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales: 2023Official statistics · 18 Nov 2025 ↗

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  4. V16-04True

    “Hardly any countries let 16-year-olds vote in national elections.”

    Confirmed: only a few countries do. In the EU, Austria and Malta are the only countries where 16-year-olds can vote in national elections. Everywhere else in the EU the age is 18.

    Austria lowered its voting age for national elections to 16 in 2007. Outside Europe, Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador allow voting at 16, and in Brazil and Ecuador it is optional for 16 and 17 year olds. Nicaragua and Cuba allow it too, but Nicaragua's recent elections were not seen as free and fair, and Cuba has only one party. The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey vote at 16, Greece votes at 17, and Germany lets 16-year-olds vote in European Parliament elections.

    “The voting age for national elections in EU countries is 18, except for Austria and Malta.”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗
  5. V16-05True

    “More people in Britain oppose lowering the voting age to 16 than support it.”

    Confirmed: a June 2024 poll by More in Common found that 47% of the public opposed lowering the voting age and 28% supported it.

    Age made a big difference: 49% of 18 to 26 year olds supported it, but only 10% of people over 75. A July 2025 poll of 500 16 and 17 year olds found them split, with 51% for and 49% against. Opinion changed in Scotland: polls there showed two-thirds of people opposed votes at 16 before it came in, but by 2015, 60% supported it.

    “Polling by More in Common in June 2024 showed 47% of the public oppose and 28% support lowering the voting age.”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗
  6. V16-06Mostly false

    “Lowering the voting age to 16 would change who wins elections.”

    Unlikely. In places that lowered the voting age to 16, research has found little evidence that it changes election results overall. There are about 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds in the UK, just under 3% of everyone aged 16 and over.

    Young people do lean differently. In a February 2025 YouGov poll, 18 to 24 year olds backed Labour 28% and the Greens 20%, against 24% and 9% across all ages, while Reform UK got 12% from them against 25% overall. The poll did not include under-18s. Researchers say 16 and 17 year olds are too small a group to change each party's overall share of the vote by much, even if every one of them voted, and all voted the same way. In Austria, adding 16 and 17 year olds to the voters did not change the political landscape.

    “there is little evidence that enfranchising younger voters alters election results overall.”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗
  7. V16-07Mostly true

    “16 and 17 year olds are more likely to vote than people who first get the vote at 18.”

    Mostly true: a 2021 review of the research found that 16 and 17 year olds voting for the first time are more likely to vote than 18 and 19 year olds. But they are still less likely to vote than older adults.

    In Austria, where 16-year-olds can vote in all elections, they were more likely to vote than 18 to 21 year olds but less likely than older voters. One reason may be that most 16 and 17 year olds still live with their parents, while many 18-year-olds are leaving home for work or study. In Wales's 2021 election, the share of 16 and 17 year olds who voted was about the same as for other young age groups, and clearly lower than for people over 55.

    “16- and 17-year-olds have higher rates of turnout as first time voters, when given the chance to vote”
    Parliamentary Affairs (Oxford University Press, open access)·Lowering the Voting Age to 16 in Practice: Processes and Outcomes Compared (Parliamentary Affairs)Peer-reviewed research · 14 Jul 2021 ↗

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  8. V16-08Mixed

    “Letting people vote at 16 builds a lifelong habit of voting.”

    It's not settled. Some studies in Austria and Scotland found that people who first voted at 16 or 17 kept voting more into their 20s. But a careful 2024 study in Austria found no sign of a lasting boost.

    In Scotland, those who could vote at 16 or 17 in the 2014 independence referendum were more likely to vote in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election than those who were 18 at the referendum. The 2024 Austrian study compared people born just before and just after the cut-off date for voting at 16. It found no clear effect on whether they voted 9 and 11 years later, and it found that an earlier Austrian study showing a big boost had a coding mistake. The study was small, so it can rule out big effects but not small ones. A 2021 review says the early boost 'may at least partially be retained', but adds that we 'may not yet know the full effect'. When the UK lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1970, the new 18-year-old voters were less likely to vote, partly because many were leaving home.

    “In Austria and Scotland, young people voting at 16 or 17 were more likely to turn out to vote in elections well into their 20s”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗

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  9. V16-09Mixed

    “When teenagers get the vote, most of them don't even bother to register.”

    It depends. For Wales's first votes-at-16 election in 2021, fewer than half of 16 and 17 year olds registered. But for Scotland's 2014 independence referendum, about 89% of them signed up.

    Scotland's referendum was a huge vote: 84.6% of registered voters took part, the highest for any Scotland-wide vote since 1918. 109,533 16 and 17 year olds registered for it. Wales's 2021 election took place during the pandemic, with schools disrupted. Researchers found that young people whose families helped them found registering easy, but many had no such help. The Electoral Commission says more automatic registration would help get young people registered.

    “Estimates put the number of 16- and 17-year-olds who registered at fewer than 50%, although rates varied across Wales.”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗

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  10. V16-10Mixed

    “16-year-olds' brains aren't developed enough for them to vote.”

    Partly. A study of 5,227 people aged 10 to 30 in 11 countries found that thinking and reasoning skills reach adult levels around age 16. But self-control in exciting or emotional situations was still developing after 18.

    The researchers say that for calm, planned choices like voting, 16-year-olds' decisions would on average be as logical as adults'. They add that not every 16-year-old would make good choices. They suggest one age limit for calm decisions and a later one for heat-of-the-moment situations. The study compared different age groups at one point in time, rather than following the same people as they grew up.

    “whereas cognitive capacity reached adult levels around age 16, psychosocial maturity reached adult levels beyond age 18”
    Law and Human Behavior (American Psychological Association), via PubMed·Adolescents' cognitive capacity reaches adult levels prior to their psychosocial maturity: Evidence for a "maturity gap" in a multinational, cross-sectional sample (Law and Human Behavior)Government / parliament · 1 Feb 2019 ↗

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  11. V16-11Mostly false

    “16 and 17 year olds would just vote the way their parents tell them to.”

    Evidence from Scotland suggests not. A Scottish Parliament committee heard that 16 and 17 year olds did not simply copy their parents' votes, and that they were about as interested in politics as adults.

    Parents do still matter. Most 16 and 17 year olds still live at home, and family help makes registering easier. But a 2021 review found influence runs both ways, saying 'young people indeed also influence their parents'. In Wales, a study found 16 and 17 year olds were about as likely to vote, as interested in politics and as knowledgeable as other voters under 55.

    “16 and 17 year olds did not simply follow the voting pattern of their parents”
    House of Commons Library, UK Parliament·Voting age (House of Commons Library Research Briefing 1747)Government / parliament · 13 Feb 2026 ↗

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  12. V16-12Mixed

    “Giving 16-year-olds the vote makes young people more interested and involved in politics.”

    It's mixed. A 2021 review of places that lowered the voting age found the effect on young people's political engagement was 'not negative and often positive'. But careful studies in Germany and Austria found little or no change in how interested young people were in politics, or how much they knew about it.

    The German study found teenagers allowed to vote at 16 were more likely to talk about politics with family and friends and to use voting advice apps, but they were not found to be more interested in politics. Its authors said more work is needed to see whether any early boost fades over time. The 2021 review found good effects are more likely where schools teach a lot about politics and citizenship, as in Scotland. Interest is still low overall: an Electoral Commission study found fewer than half of 11 to 25 year olds said they were interested in politics.

    “Overall, the impact appears to not be negative and often positive in terms of political engagement and civic attitudes.”
    Parliamentary Affairs (Oxford University Press, open access)·Lowering the Voting Age to 16 in Practice: Processes and Outcomes Compared (Parliamentary Affairs)Peer-reviewed research · 14 Jul 2021 ↗

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