If kids could vote, we all would benefit, argues law professor
There would be more progress ending child poverty if kids had political power, says Adam Benforado
Law professor Adam Benforado has a radical proposal that he says would significantly impact poverty, crime, and climate change. His solution is to centre young people in all aspects of public policy and law — including giving kids the right to vote.
In his new book, A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All, Benforado argues that the root cause of nearly every major challenge we face — from crime to poor health, to poverty — can be found in our mistreatment of children. He suggests to change course and ensure a set of core children's rights.
"I believe a big part of why we have not made more progress on addressing climate change, gun violence, crumbling schools and childhood poverty is that kids themselves have no power," Benforado said in his 2024 Robert R. Wilson Distinguished Lecture at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. The professor teaches law at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Children are the future
So how do we change the law to prioritize kids? Benforado proposes a few ways but argues extending voting rights to those under 18 years old would have the most impact.
It's not an easy argument for many people to accept. Benforado says he often hears backlash to the idea. The common defence he hears is that kids don't have the capacity.
His response is to point to the evidence in psychology and neuroscience that suggests "when it comes to voting relevant cognition, there doesn't appear to be a significant difference between the average 16-year-old and the average adult."
Other naysayers to Benforado's position argue people under the age of 18 don't have the relevant life experience to vote. An answer the law professor does not accept.
"Many young people have significant lived experience relevant to the most pressing issues of the day. They know what a lockdown drill feels like. They are fluent social media users. They have lived in a shelter. They have had a parent incarcerated. They have lost a family member to addiction, and they have skin in the game," Benforado explained.
"A 15-year-old is going to live with the consequences of the next election on her reproductive choices, on her job prospects, on the habitability of her world in a way that her 89-year-old great-grandfather simply will not."
The right to be represented
One of his most shocking statistics about the lives of children in the U.S. today falls under child labour violations — from 2015 to 2023, the number of children employed in contravention of labour laws increased by 283 per cent.
And it's not just in the United States. Conversations are happening in both the U.S. and Canada about loosening child labour laws as a solution to current labour shortages.
"It's the same arguments that were being made 100 years ago...It has always been the case that people say it's an economic necessity," Benforado told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed after his lecture.
"And you know who we can give the worst jobs at the lowest pay, at the worst times to? Kids. And I think that ought to really, really give us pause and think, gosh, 'how can we be having this same conversation again. This ought to have been settled decades ago.'"
What it comes down to is children need their interests represented, says Benforado. He believes there would not be backsliding on labour laws and likely more of the government budget going to children-related issues if legislatures cared what children think.
Benforado is optimistic that children will become enfranchised. It's just a matter of time. He points to models around the world of other countries that have already lowered their voting age.
"[Kids] are up for it. They are up for asserting their rights. They're up for the challenge of participating in our civic society. And I see my responsibility as assisting in that process."
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*This episode was produced by Debbie Pacheco.
