The law on leaving your child home alone

    The law doesn’t say an age when you can leave a child on their own, but it’s an offence to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.

    Use your judgement on how mature your child is before you decide to leave them alone.

    The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) says:

    • children under 12 are rarely mature enough to be left alone for a long period of time
    • children under 16 shouldn’t be left alone overnight
    • babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone

    The law says that parents can be prosecuted if they leave a child unsupervised ‘in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health’.