What Age Can a Child Stay Home Alone? The Law in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland
Most places set no legal age for leaving a child home alone. What the law actually says in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland, and the official age guidance.
In most of the US, the UK, Ireland and Canada, no law sets an age at which a child can stay home alone. The offence is leaving a child in a way that puts them at risk. A few places do name ages. Maryland bars leaving a child under 8 locked in alone, Oregon treats endangering a child under 10 left unattended as neglect, Ontario requires reasonable supervision for children under 16, and Manitoba for children under 12. UK and Irish guidance says children under 12 to 14 should rarely be left alone for long.
"How old does my child have to be to stay home alone?" is one of the most searched parenting questions in the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland. Most people expect a number. In most places there isn't one.
What the law actually punishes is leaving a child in a way that puts them at risk. Age is one of the facts that decides whether a risk was reasonable, alongside how long, what time of day, the child's maturity and whether an adult can be reached. A handful of places do write an age into law, and those are set out below.
At a glance
| Place | Age set in law? | What the rule says |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales and Northern Ireland | No | An offence if leaving the child alone puts them at risk |
| Ireland | No | Guidance: under 14, only for a very short time; over 16, can be left |
| Ontario | Under 16 | A child under 16 must have supervision and care that is reasonable in the circumstances |
| Manitoba | Under 12 | An offence to leave a child under 12 unattended for an unreasonable time without reasonable provision for their safety |
| Maryland | Under 8 | A child under 8 may not be left locked or confined alone without a reliable person aged at least 13 |
| Oregon | Under 10 | Neglect if a child under 10 is left unattended for a time likely to endanger them |
| Most other US states | No | Neglect laws judge the circumstances, not a fixed age |
United States
There is no federal rule. The federal Child Welfare Information Gateway has said that only three states set a minimum age in law:
- Illinois: 14. This was the highest in the country. Illinois changed the law in 2023, and it now judges whether a child left unsupervised faced an unreasonable risk of harm rather than using a fixed age. Older guides still quote 14.
- Maryland: 8. Under Family Law §5-801, a child under 8 may not be left locked or confined in a home, car or other enclosure without a reliable person aged at least 13.
- Oregon: 10. Under ORS 163.545, a person in charge of a child under 10 commits child neglect if they leave the child unattended for a period likely to endanger the child's health or welfare.
Everywhere else, a state's neglect law asks whether supervision was adequate, and most do not define the word. Many state child protection agencies publish guidance ages. Those are advice, not law.
For the state-by-state picture, the babysitting and home-alone age by state table lists each state checked, with its home-alone and babysitting ages labelled law, guidance or none.
The recent trend has run the other way from fixed ages. As of April 2026, 13 states have passed what are usually called "reasonable childhood independence" laws. These say that letting a child do reasonable things without supervision is not neglect on its own. The states are Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, Indiana and Kansas. None of them makes it lawful to leave a child in danger.
United Kingdom
The UK government's guidance is direct: the law does not say an age when you can leave a child on their own. It is an offence to leave a child alone if doing so puts them at risk, and parents can be prosecuted for neglect.
The official guidance quotes the NSPCC:
- babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone;
- children under 12 are rarely mature enough to cope in an emergency and should not be left alone for a long time;
- children under 16 should not be left alone overnight.
Northern Ireland's official advice says the same. The practical test in both is not a birthday. It is whether this child, for this length of time, could cope if something went wrong.
Ireland
Ireland also has no set legal age. Tusla, the state child and family agency, gives a rough guide:
- babies: not even for a few minutes;
- young children: never, not even for a short time;
- under 14: not for more than a very short time;
- over 16: can be left home alone.
Tusla adds that a babysitter should be over 16.
Canada
Canada leaves this to the provinces, and two of them write an age into law:
- Ontario: no one in charge of a child younger than 16 may leave the child without supervision and care that is "reasonable in the circumstances" (Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, section 136). This does not ban a 12-year-old from being home alone after school. It means the arrangement has to be reasonable for that child.
- Manitoba: leaving a child under 12 unattended for an unreasonable time, without reasonable provision for their supervision and safety, is an offence under the Child and Family Services Act.
Other provinces rely on general child protection law and published guidance.
How to decide, whatever the law says
The official guidance in every country above lands on the same questions:
- Could your child handle an emergency? Do they know their address, how to call emergency services and which neighbour to go to?
- How long, and when? Twenty minutes after school is a different decision from an evening, and an evening is different from overnight.
- Are they comfortable with it? A child who is frightened is not ready, whatever their age.
- Are other children involved? Being ready to stay alone is not the same as being ready to look after a younger sibling.
- Can they reach you? A phone that works and an adult who will answer it change the risk a great deal.
Start with short, planned absences and lengthen them as the child shows they can cope.
Sources
- Child Welfare Information Gateway (2013). Leaving your child home alone. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau. govinfo.gov
- Maryland Family Law §5-801. mgaleg.maryland.gov and Maryland People's Law Library
- Oregon Revised Statutes §163.545, child neglect in the second degree. oregon.public.law
- Let Grow. Illinois and state policies on reasonable childhood independence.
- GOV.UK. Babysitting and leaving children home alone.
- nidirect (Northern Ireland). Leaving children home alone.
- Tusla, Child and Family Agency. A short guide for parents who are newly arrived in Ireland.
- Ontario. Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, via CanLII.
- Manitoba. The Child and Family Services Act, C.C.S.M. c. C80.