Mr. T. WILSONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will state the age to which children are compelled to attend school in America, France, and Germany, respectively; and up to what age are they prohibited from working for wages or any form of remuneration in these countries?
§ Lord R. CECILNeither in the United States of America nor in Germany is there any general law regulating the period of compulsory attendance at school for the whole of the country. Such attendance is regulated by the separate enactments of each individual State. In Germany, except in the case of Bavaria and Oldenburg, the upper age limit of compulsory attendance at the elementary school has been fixed at fourteen years. In America there is a greater variation in the age at which a child ceases to be subject to compulsory attendance at school. In twenty-six States the upper age limit is fixed at sixteen and in eight States at fifteen, though in nearly all these States a child may be exempted from attendance at the age of fourteen if he is in regular and lawful employment. In eight States the upper age limit of compulsory attendance is fixed at fourteen and in one State at twelve. Five States possess laws applicable by local option only; one State678W has no compulsory attendance law. Further, it should be noted that the annual period of attendance shows considerable variation. It may be as little as eighty days in the year, but in the majority of cases attendance is required for the full period during which the school is in session. In France, the legal limit at which attendance at the public elementary school ceases is fixed at thirteen. Children, however, who have obtained the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires may be excused from attendance at school. They can, however, only be admitted to the examination for the Certificat after they have reached the age of twelve
In none of these countries is there any general law fixing the minimum age under which a child shall not be employed for wages or any form of remuneration. There are, however, ten States in America in which a regulation of this kind exists, the age in eight of these being fixed at fourteen, in the remaining two at fifteen. In all but two of these States children employed in agriculture are exempted from the operation of the law. In all these countries there are special regulations affecting the employment of children in factories, workshops, mines, etc., but the age varies with the nature of the employment.