The Law To Know

The Age Ladder

At what age can a child be held criminally responsible, drive, marry, vote or buy alcohol? Pick up to six of the 70 countries and see seven legal ages climb the ladder side by side.

Part of the comparative law toolkit. The numbers come from Legal Ages Around the World and Driving Ages Around the World.

United StatesUnited KingdomGermanyJapanIndiaBrazilSix countries is the most; remove one to add another.
0510152025Criminal responsibilityUnited Kingdom: Age of criminal responsibility, 10Germany: Age of criminal responsibility, 14Japan: Age of criminal responsibility, 14India: Age of criminal responsibility, 7Brazil: Age of criminal responsibility, 12ConsentUnited Kingdom: Age of consent, 16Germany: Age of consent, 14Japan: Age of consent, 16India: Age of consent, 18Brazil: Age of consent, 14DrivingUnited States: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 16United Kingdom: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 17Germany: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 18Japan: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 18India: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 18Brazil: Youngest age to drive a car alone, 18MarriageUnited Kingdom: Minimum age to marry, 18Germany: Minimum age to marry, 18Japan: Minimum age to marry, 18India: Minimum age to marry, 18Brazil: Minimum age to marry, 16VotingUnited States: Voting age, 18United Kingdom: Voting age, 18Germany: Voting age, 18Japan: Voting age, 18India: Voting age, 18Brazil: Voting age, 18MajorityUnited States: Age of majority, 18United Kingdom: Age of majority, 18Germany: Age of majority, 18Japan: Age of majority, 18India: Age of majority, 18Brazil: Age of majority, 18AlcoholUnited States: Alcohol purchase age, 21United Kingdom: Alcohol purchase age, 18Germany: Alcohol purchase age, 16Japan: Alcohol purchase age, 20Brazil: Alcohol purchase age, 18

Age in years. The gold line marks 18. Each dot is one country; dots at the same age are stacked.

CountryCriminal responsibilityConsentDrivingMarriageVotingMajorityAlcohol
United Statesno single ageno single age16no single age181821
United Kingdom10161718181818
Germany14141818181816
Japan14161818181820
India71818181818no single age
Brazil12141816181818

Read this first

The ladder joins the numbers of our Legal Ages and Driving Ages guides: the general rule in each country, in years. Many countries have exceptions, such as marriage with a parent's consent or different ages for beer and spirits, and some ages differ by state or by religion, so a missing dot means there is no single number. Check the national law. It is general information, not legal advice.

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<a href="https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/age-ladder">The Age Ladder</a>, TheLawToKnow

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TheLawToKnow Tools. The Age Ladder. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/age-ladder.

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