In this article Gemma Lockyer Turnbull highlights the inconsistencies found in determining the age range when we describe work with young people and argues the need for more distinction between work with children and young people.  This article will explore what age means in the context of youth work in England and how this relates to the profession in 2024. It will pose questions about why the age range may have been lowered and the impact that reductions in children’s work and funding, along with access to youth work qualifications, may have had on this. It will provide my own reflections, as a manager working in the sector, about what this change could mean for practice, and the funding and profile of youth work.