Coming of Age: The World Over

In this special issue of Gender Issues we examine age, and where appropriate gender, and how it determines a person's status in 21 countries. The countries represent a broad geographical range as well as variations in political, social and economic institutions and values, and demographic characteristics. They include Canada, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, India, China, Japan, and Australia. For each country, we compare the ages at which boys and girls may leave school, gain employment, marry, engage in sexual activities, serve in the armed forces, drink alcohol, smoke, vote, adopt a child, sign contracts, and inherit property. When data are available, we also compare when boys and girls come of age and are considered adults. For example, the legal age at which men and women may marry varies across almost all societies. In many societies, there is a difference in the number of years of compulsory education for boys and girls. Some societies require military service for men and women, but the age and length of conscription varies. Drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking varies by age and quite often with age differences by sex. In the first section, we report on a country-by-country basis each of the variables described above. The second section is explicitly comparative and reports the age and gender requirements for each of the variables across countries.