Child employment: policy and practice in Scotland.

The majority of young people have experience of paid employment before they reach the end of their compulsory education. However, questions have been raised about the efficacy of existing child employment legislation to protect young employees. This paper reports the findings from the first in-depth study of policy and practice in this area. The research focuses on the 32 local authorities in Scotland. The review of policy and practice shows that local authorities fail to prioritise this area and the majority of young employees are working without the knowledge of local authorities. The results are
discussed within the context of British legislation and it is argued that there is an urgent need to overhaul the existing system to reflect the needs of the 21st century