About young carers

A young carer is someone aged 25 and under who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support. Older young carers are also known as young adult carers and they may have different support needs to younger carers.

What might a young carer do?

• Practical tasks, like cooking, housework and shopping.
• Physical care, such as helping someone out of bed. 
• Emotional support, including talking to someone who is distressed.
• Personal care, such as helping someone dress.
• Managing the family budget and collecting prescriptions.
• Helping to give medicine. 
• Helping someone communicate.
• Looking after brothers and sisters.

How many young carers are there?

• The 2011 Census identified 177,918 young carers in England and Wales. One in eight of those were aged under eight.
• Scottish Government recognises that there are at least 29,000 young carers in Scotland.
• This is widely believed to be the tip of the iceberg, with some estimates suggesting that as many as one in five schoolchildren are young carers (University of Nottingham 2018), with this number increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being a young carer can have a big impact on the things that are important to growing up

• Young carers are already likely to have significantly lower educational attainment than their peers.

• With the added complications of COVID-19, young carers have missed out on even more school than before and urgent support is needed if they are not to be left behind their peers.

• Caring can also be an isolating experience but having the right support in place can give young carers a better chance  of succeeding in all parts of their lives. 

How we support young carers

Young Carers Action Day

Young Carers Action Day is an annual event led by Carers Trust. It raises awareness and calls for action to increase support for young people with caring responsibilities. On Young Carers Action Day 2022, we are calling on all governments across the UK to commit to taking action to reduce isolation for young and young adult carers including access to short breaks, These are important in providing much-needed freedom from caring responsibilities, as well as reducing isolation and promoting wellbeing.

Specialist services for young carers

Carers Trust helps young carers to cope with their caring role through specialised services delivered by its network of local carer organisations across the UK. They are independent charities. Activities offered include:

• Activities and breaks.
• Peer and community support, including young carer groups and peer mentoring schemes.
• Information, advice and guidance, including one-to-one support and age appropriate information.
• Emotional support.
• Advocacy.
• Brokerage and support planning.
• Training in subjects such as health and safety, wellbeing and life skills.
• Supporting families and young carers to apply for appropriate benefits.
• Emergency planning support.
• Whole family support.
• Engaging young carers in informing service development.

There are also lots of organisation that can support young carers with a range of issues.