In the Decree of 6 December 2011 on the Promotion of Youth Work in the German-speaking Community (Dekret vom 6. Dezember 2011 zur Förderung der Jugendarbeit), youth was for a long time defined as the time span from 12 to 30 years of age. However, as of 1 January 2022, an amendment to the Decree on the Promotion of Youth Work redefined the time span of youth from 10 to 30 years of age. Consequently, children are now defined as people from the ages of 4 to 9 years old.
 

Article 1 – Definitions

For the purpose of this decree the following definitions shall apply:

 

1. Children: people from the ages of 4 to 9 years old;
2. Young people: people from the ages of 10 to 30 years old;
3. Children and young people: Both groups 1 and 2;

But since the target group of youth work is not restricted to this age bracket, also children use offers provided by youth work organisations. Therefore the – unofficial but broadly accepted – enlarged target group for youth policy in the German-speaking Community is from four years up to 30.

In other policy fields (employment, education, social affairs, youth welfare) addressing young people, different age definitions may apply:

• Employment: e.g. min. 16 years in order to get a subsidised working contract;
• Education: e.g. 12-35 years for study assistance;
• Social affairs: e.g. 18-24 years for integration support;
• Youth wellfare service or youth court service: 0-21 years (Dekret vom 13. November 2023 über die Jugendhilfe und den Jugendschutz)

Even inside these different policy fields, age definitions for youth vary a lot. This is mainly due to the fact that target groups are not defined by decree but are defined for individual policy measures.