According to a report by the NGO Educo, over half a million children between the ages of 6 and 13 spent extended periods of time alone in their homes in 2017. There are many parents who consider not only if it is right, but also if it is legal for their young children to remain alone at home. University lecturer Marc Grau and Montserrat Gas, also director of the Institute for Advanced Family Studies, have published an article in The Conversation in which they raise the following question: From what age is it legal (and appropriate) for minors to be without adults?

To answer that question, teachers say that the legislation is unclear in this regard. While experts recommend that children not be left alone until they are nine or ten years old, Spanish law does not establish a minimum age for parents to legally leave their young children alone at home. According to the article, “the reality is that the report on accidents in the Spanish childhood population indicates that 9.1% of children under 12 are left alone at home.”

As the authors say, this phenomenon, known as “latchkey kid”, is becoming a problem all over the world. They have been given this name because they usually have keys to their house to enter and leave whenever they want: they finish school and go home to spend the afternoon in the absence of a responsible adult. The psychological or affective effects that can be generated are worrying: “Children begin to feel that their parents don’t care enough, or even that they don’t love them,” they say.

Both teachers have concluded with a reflection on the quality time that parents must spend with their children. “Despite the time constraints of current families, we must regain the importance of being there. It is essential to building strong bonds.”

The article, which has been read over 70,000 times, has been reproduced in different national media such as La Vanguardia Digital, ABC or Cadena Ser. In addition, it has had international reach and has been published in Infobae, an Argentine media website. The article has been read in high numbers in Spain, Argentina, United States and Uruguay.