Young children and their families

The geography of need for children’s welfare services is affected by the spatial distribution of the child population and by the geographical experience of young people. In the UK young people acquire most adult rights, such as voting, at the age of 18, but it is the population under the age of 16 who comprise the principal client group for most of the services considered here. Children are at their most vulnerable in their early years, and much of the discussion in this chapter relates to the youngest age-groups, especially the under-5s.