Life stages in Seychelles

A child in Seychelles is under 18, while adulthood begins at 18. Adolescence commonly covers ages 10 to 19. Youth services use different boundaries: health programmes generally serve ages 13 to 19 and 20 to 30, while the Youth Empowerment Council uses ages 15 to 35 under its 2026 mandate. These overlapping definitions affect which programme or provider can respond. Neighbourhood recreational activities serve children and young people from 5 to 15. Early childhood care and education is regulated under the Early Childhood Development Act 2022. The Institute of Early Childhood Development registers, licenses and inspects childminders and centres and can provide financial assistance. Early childhood education and care is not compulsory, unlike the national school system. Compulsory education runs from Primary 1 through Secondary 5 or an equivalent pathway, and attendance is compulsory until age 16. After secondary education, options include A-Level, professional centres, tertiary education and employment, with inclusive and special-education support where required. The National Council for Children works on child rights and safety, while the Social Affairs Department provides community, child-protection and family support. Foster care, adoption, residential care at President’s Village, court and Family Tribunal reports, and monitoring of care homes form part of the formal child-protection system. Children’s Helpline 116 is toll-free and available 24 hours for distress or suspected abuse; adults may also report concerns. Seychelles recorded 413 new child-abuse cases in 2024, including 145 physical-abuse and 137 sexual-abuse cases. Youth-friendly health services cover sexual and reproductive health, contraception, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV testing, counselling, psychological support, and help with suicide risk, self-harm, eating disorders and emotional difficulties. Services can include home-based care for complex needs or disability. Referrals may involve Social Affairs, the National Council for the Disabled, the Agency for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation, the Police Family Squad or non-governmental organisations. The Youth Employment Scheme supports ages 13 to 30 with work experience and job skills through the Department of Employment. The Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme is linked to the Seychelles National Youth Council. Adult transitions include civil registration, identity documents, work, voting, marriage, parenting and retirement. Residents must hold a National Identity Card; photographs are omitted for children under 16. Seychellois citizens may register to vote and vote from age 18, subject to statutory disqualifications. Employment generally starts from age 15, but people under 18 cannot perform listed work in tourism, hospitality, restaurants, shops, bars, nightclubs, ships or aircraft unless a 15-to-17-year-old receives exceptional written permission. The legal marriage age is 18; a minor marriage requires parental consent. Marriage banns normally run for 11 days, while a special marriage licence costs SCR 500. A Seychelles citizen who marries in the civil-status office does not pay a ceremony fee. Births must be registered within 30 days, and the mother or both parents may make the declaration. Civil Status issues birth, adoption, marriage and death certificates. Maternity leave lasts 16 weeks, including at least 12 weeks after confinement. Older age is a growing national concern. People aged 65 and over represented about 12.0% of the population in 2021 and are projected to represent 21.3% by 2050. Healthy-ageing services include primary and community care, multidisciplinary assessment, geriatric assessment at retirement age, prevention of isolation and elder maltreatment, home-safety checks, dementia care and assistive devices. A 2026 Cabinet decision reduced the Social Security retirement age from 65 to 63 with effect from 1 January 2026 and increased the social-security retirement benefit by SCR 800 from that date, with a stated target of SCR 10,000 by 2029. The Seychelles Pension Fund separately reports a retirement age of 65, so the applicable scheme must be identified before relying on an age threshold. Care dependency can involve home or domiciliary care, rehabilitation, residential aged care, palliative care and caregiver support. The Health Care Agency provides community and domiciliary care, while the Agency for Social Protection provides a home-care programme and other social-protection routes. Rehabilitation services include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, audiology and orthotic or prosthetic support across health centres, schools, workplaces, institutions and elderly homes. Invalidity Benefit can support someone whose illness makes work partly or fully impossible after at least 130 continuous working days of sickness benefit; an application requires a medical report, identification and bank details, and the Social Security Medical Board determines validity. Seychelles has no single published long-term-care entitlement and tariff covering every situation, so access, thresholds and costs may require direct clarification. Palliative care may be delivered at home, in the community, in a hospice or in residential aged care. It can include family and caregiver support, respite, advance-care planning, end-of-life care and bereavement counselling. For older-person residential homes, published application guidance focuses on Seychellois eligibility, functional ability, home conditions and greatest need. The same guidance lists restrictions concerning some mental or physical disabilities and chronic substance abuse; these criteria require confirmation because they raise access and equality concerns. Crisis pathways depend on the problem. Child abuse or neglect can be reported to 116, Social Affairs, the National Council for Children or the Police Family Squad. Police, fire and ambulance emergencies use 999, while ambulance services can also be reached at 151. Mental-health crises can involve Health Mental Health Services, hospital care and youth-programme psychologists. Homeless people may be referred through the Family Support Unit to the Night Shelter, which provides temporary safe accommodation and psychosocial reintegration and currently has capacity for 20 male clients. After a death, Civil Status handles death registration and the Agency for Social Protection may provide a funeral benefit for a Seychellois citizen. Poverty and unemployment can lead to an Agency for Social Protection welfare or social-safety-net application and Department of Employment jobseeker services. An Agency for Social Protection decision can be challenged using its review or appeal form within 21 days. Access is not identical across the islands. About 90% of residents live on Mahé. Social Affairs has outstations on Praslin and La Digue, while health centres and hospitals are concentrated on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. Community, family and non-governmental support complements formal services, but it does not replace a legal or administrative pathway. Public primary health care is constitutionally free for citizens; exact welfare, domiciliary-care and other service thresholds, tariffs and processing times are not fully published and should be confirmed with the responsible provider.