Voting at age 16

[apelike]

Every body is liable for taxation on income from wages and other sources.

A sixteen year old is allowed to work full time and/or run their lives independent of the parents or state.

 

But I ask again, how many 16 year old's are working and pay tax?

[Mister Gee]

Ok - potentially working then like I said.

 

What an arse licking response.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2018 at 01:40 ----------

 

But I ask again, how many 16 year old's are working and pay tax?

 

Your the stat man, tell us?

[Robin-H]

I was 16 in 1983.

 

Which is my point - it would have been more common for 16 year olds to have been working 1983 than it is now, as it was much less common for people to go onto college and then university.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2018 at 11:25 ----------

 

Which school did you go to Robin? I went to Newfield, a secondary modern.

 

I went to a Comprehensive School.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2018 at 11:29 ----------

 

This is an interpretation which is not accurate in this context.

 

Training can occur in the workplace:

Education and Skills Act 2008 Part 1, Chapter 1, Duty to participate in education or training, Section 2

here

 

I don't think anyone's claiming that training cannot happen in the workplace, indeed I think most people would understanding training as something that would typically happen in the workplace.

 

The overall point however still stands - there are fewer 16 year olds in work than in the past, I would imagine partly due to the Education and Skills Acts (although more people post 16 were staying in education anyway). You are not free to do whatever you want until you reach the age of 18.

[Guest makapaka]

What an arse licking response.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2018 at 01:40 ----------

 

 

Your the stat man, tell us?

 

Again - I don’t know what you mean. You post in riddles.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2018 at 11:32 ----------

 

But I ask again, how many 16 year old's are working and pay tax?

 

How many 18+ year olds are working and not paying tax? How many 18+ people don’t work at all? Daft argument.

[ENG601PM]

Again - I don’t know what you mean. You post in riddles.

 

Riddles have meaning. Mister Gee is drunk.

 

How many 18+ year olds are working and not paying tax? How many 18+ people don’t work at all? Daft argument.

SO that's the pay-tax-get-representation- argument over.

[Robin-H]

 

How many 18+ year olds are working and not paying tax? How many 18+ people don’t work at all? Daft argument.

 

Yes I think it is a daft argument, but it has been used as justification for why 16 year olds should be able to vote, but it is flawed for a number of reasons, including the one you just highlighted yourself.

 

Firstly, you can enter the workforce at 13, so why then would you not also be able to vote at 13?

 

At 16, you can work more hours (up to 40), but still not the same amount of hours as someone who is 18. You are also not entitled to the same level of pay as 18 year olds. Indeed you're not entitled to the maximum minimum wage until you reach 25.

 

Those arguing that being in the workforce gives you a right to vote have to explain why if that is the case 13 year olds shouldn't be given the right to vote, or why people who never enter the workforce get the vote regardless.

 

Isn't it easier to just abandon that line of argument and pick an age when it is sensible to be granted that right, such as the legal age of adulthood?

[ENG601PM]

16 year old children can't have a bank loan but Labour and the SNP want them to vote.

[barleycorn]

Why do you think that is relevant?

[Annie Bynnol]

At sixteen

The ability to live independently.

The ability to earn a living.

The responsibility of raising a family and the myriad of other things people get on and do.

 

To be subject to laws on taxation, benefits, earnings, education, travel and the myriad of other things the state controls without the same representation as others are wrong.

 

Who will speak for them if they don't have the vote?

 

Not Government.

Not the public.

Not many parents who vote on their own issues.

 

As we have failed that age groups needs consistently since the 1970s it is time they had a say and be given the right to make the same choices as we do- right or wrong.

[ENG601PM]

At sixteen

The ability to live independently.

The ability to earn a living.

The responsibility of raising a family and the myriad of other things people get on and do.

 

All of which require supervision and consent by adults, IE people who are old enough to vote.