QUOTE John may know but I don't think there is a legal minimum age for looking after a minor?, but RoSPA and the NSPCC recommend that no one under 16 should be left to care for an infant.
I don't know if there is an age set down in law, I don't think there is. Each case would depend on the circumstances.
But how things have changed.
In about 1948, in UK when I was 8 years old, I was from time to time left until maybe 3 am with my two brothers aged 4 and 1 yr whilst my parents were working on a mobile coffee stall.
Was I capable? One night when the baby would not stop crying I remember calling the police station opposite where my parents were working and asking them if they could send a policeman across the road to ask my mother to come home. No one had told me that's what I should do if I had a problem. I guess that was a fair display that I was at least to some extent capable. Although I of course would not approve now of that but it was just after the war and people had to make ends meet. During the war I guess many things happened which would be frowned upon now but which were accepted and probably things seldom went wrong.
I think nowadays in UK we/society have gone cuckoo generally and everyone loves to jump on the bandwagon when anything goes wrong, and criticise, as if they have never made a poor decision.
In the case of the 10 year with the child. It would seem that is not so rare in their homeland and as they have extended families who care for each other I would expect the baby will be at less risk than many of those 'under the care of social services' in UK.
From what I understand young people assume a level of responsibly in RP earlier than in UK.
