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The lives of young carers in England

Author: Dan Clay, Caitlin Connors, Naomi Day and Marina Gkiza
Institution: TNS BMRB
Type of case study: Research

About the research

According to the 2011 Census, there are almost 166,000 young carers in England. Young carers are those children and young people under 18 who provide regular and ongoing care and emotional support to a family member. While research has found that caring can have a positive impact, there is also evidence to show the adverse impact of caring on health, social activity, education and employment opportunities for young carers (Aldridge, 2008).

With the implementation of the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 local authorities need to identify and assess the support needs of young carers, regardless of the type of support they provide. To inform and evaluate the effectiveness of this new legislation, the Department for Education commissioned a qualitative report ‘The lives of young carers in England’ investigating the lives of young carers aged 5 to 17 in England. The research was conducted by TNS BMRB, in partnership with Professor Jo Aldridge, Director of the Young Carers Research Group (YCRG) at Loughborough University, and had two objectives:

Firstly it aimed to find out more about the characteristics of young carers and their families, including the nature of care they are providing; the impacts of caring responsibilities and needs of both young carers and their families; experiences of support; and responses to support propositions developed in consultation with key local and national stakeholders.

Secondly, it aimed to find a cost effective quantitative approach that can give the Department for Education an estimate of the prevalence of young caring, the characteristics and circumstances of young carers and the impact of their caring responsibilities on their lives.

The key findings of the report include the following:

  • caring was seen to be a very rewarding role by the majority of the young carers but also had adverse effects such as anxiety, stress, tiredness, strain within family relationships, restrictions in social activities and relationships, and under-engagement in education
  • parents often struggle to discuss their health conditions with their children, particularly where their conditions were complex or terminal
  • formal or informal support helped reduce the extent of young carers’ responsibilities, however not all parents were comfortable disclosing their condition to health and social care professionals due to fear of the potential repercussions for their family
  • social workers tended to have limited contact with young carers about their caring role, although some children did have a key worker who discussed the impact of caring with them and made referrals to young carers’ services

These findings promote the need for whole family approaches when working with young carers and their families as well as the need for professionals to consider young carers’ needs not only as carers but also as children.

Methodology

This research involved 22 face-to-face research visits conducted with young carers aged 6-17 and their families between January and March 2015. A number of recruitment approaches were used to sample a broad range of young carers including: targeted engagement with gatekeepers in young carer support services such as young carers’ projects and young carer respite services; and screening from an online panel. Research visits lasted 3-4 hours and used a mixture of exploratory discussions with families, observations of family interaction, in-depth interviews with children who were providing care for parents/siblings, and interviews with parents/guardian and other family members e.g. a cared-for sibling. The research with young carers, and the support propositions tested, were informed by a rapid evidence assessment and 10 telephone interviews undertaken with individuals representing local authorities and national and local support organisations across England between October and December 2014. Finally, a 90-minute workshop was conducted with young people aged 11-17 who attended young carers’ projects to validate key findings on the types of support local authorities should prioritise.

The researchers combined the data collected with demographic data of young carers from the 2011 UK Census. They used InFuse, a UK Data Service tool providing easy access to aggregate data from the UK 2011 and 2001 censuses, to extract the following information:

  • there are almost 166,000  young carers (aged 5-17) in England, a 19% increase since 2001;
  • in 2011, there were 177,918 young unpaid carers (5 to 17-years-old) in England and Wales. Of these, 54% were girls and 46% were boys;
  • the majority of young carers (80.2%) in England and Wales provided between 1 and 19 hours of unpaid care per week.

Findings for policy:

This qualitative study into the lives of young carers helps provide an up-to-date understanding of the current context of caring among children and young people at a key point in time, with the introduction of the new legislative framework (the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014):

  • children and young people should not have to become carers and there is a need for good universal services and early intervention to prevent this. It is important that adults who need care have the right kind of support in order to ensure their children do not take on inappropriate or long-term caring responsibilities. This includes ensuring appropriate support for all family members during particularly critical periods (e.g. school holidays)
  • early intervention should also involve ensuring that children and families have access to appropriate information about the parental/sibling condition and the support services that are available to them. This information should be made openly available from a range of sources, dependent on individual preference, including health, education and social care professionals, specialist organisations, charities, young carers’ projects, and through online channels. Social care, health and education professionals have a crucial role in identifying and assessing the needs of young carers
  • access to support services was dependent upon parents (and their children) having their fears of the consequences of disclosure allayed by professionals and of having a good awareness and understanding of what support services were available
  • health, social care and education professionals should work to build the resilience of young carers and reduce anxiety at times when parents/siblings are left alone. Included in this personalised approach should be provision of financial/money management advice and age-appropriate information about specific illnesses/disabilities

Shortly after the publication of the report, the Department of Health ran a consultation seeking views on a new strategy for carers that will set out how more can be done to support them. The Department of Health is analysing the feedback received and will publish the outcomes of the consultation in the following months.

Read the report:

Clay, D., Connors, C., Day, N. and Gkiza, M. with Aldridge, J. (2016) ‘The Lives of Young Carers in England: Qualitative Report to DfE’, DfE Research Report 499.

Available online at:

The lives of young carers in England – Qualitative report to DfE 

 

Publications

Hamblin, E. (2016) ‘Young people caring for adults with dementia in England – Report on NCB’s survey findings and internet research’, Nation Children’s Bureau Report. Available at: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.563454!/file/Young_people_caring_for_adults_with_dementia.pdf