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I would say average age to be finished is before 4, so three. You can start whenever you like, but starting is sure as shit not finishing. My daughter was 2 and just slipped the switch. My son was more of a gradual change. Kids let you know what they're ready for, and I'm not one to force things. I watch parents and kids pull their hair out forcing things because of X, Y, and Z, but I don't see the point in stressing everyone out. And it all got done, everyone's happy. I will stress them out in a few years, when they're older.

Germany here. It is now not expected that your kid is fully potty trained when they start kindergarten at 3 years old anymore - at least not in the majority of kindergartens ("it would be nice, but it is not obligatory"). The reason is that there is a push to not start potty training before the kid shows signs of readiness. And this is often not the case before 2.5-3 years. Not in the majority of cases but some kids don't have the necessary body feel (which is a neurological development) to do successful potty training.

Now, we also have to discuss how we define "potty training". Over here, it is normal to keep a potty and offer to try it, but you don't take away a toddler's diaper and let it sit on a potty until stuff comes out. So I am talking about child led potty training where they take the incentive, but are offered the access regularly and obviously are then shown how to wipe and wash their hands.

If I remember correctly, research shows that earlier potty training takes longer until the kid is considered potty trained (i.e. few to no accidents during the daytime). Another reason for the push to do it later - besides bodily autonomy - is that potty training that is done too early often uses tactics such as putting the kid on the potty "just in case", which is now considered not ideal, since the kid doesn't learn to feel when the bladder is actually full.

Moreover, kids often change from early daycare to kindergarten at age 3, which is considered a major life event that often leads to a regression in potty training. Our kid was almost completely potty trained at 3 years old but when she started kindergarten (without having been to early daycare) she regressed immensely due to the stress and it took a couple of months until she was fully potty trained again. However, it was her teachers who advocated not to rush her and give her the time she needs and who reassured us that this is very normal, and I am grateful they did.

I find the article a bit misleading because it doesn't clarify what age the kids are and what school we are talking about. Or how exactly they define potty training. It makes it sound like a quarter of seven year olds who are in first grade shit in their diapers. I mean, maybe they do, but it is unclear what they are talking about. Most kids will, at a certain age, absolutely lose it if they happen to poop or pee their pants (even in diapers). Apart from one autistic child I really don't know any kid that regularly does its business in diapers at age 5. There is also a sense of societal norms and wanting to belong - also something that the teachers told us before we started kindergarten - so usually the diapers go away because the kids don't want to wear them anymore. They want to be big.