Young carer

File:Young carers views.webm

The roles taken on by a young carer are exhaustive and are carried out often behind closed doors on top of the normal pressures of a young persons life. The care they give may be practical, physical, and emotional. Responsibilities may range from providing practical support such as helping to cook, clean or wash, giving personal care, emotional support, providing medication or helping with financial chores.

The person they care for may be a parent, a partner, their own child, a sibling,{{Cite web|url=http://siblingsaustralia.org.au/teensibs.php|title=Teen Siblings Page|last=|first=|date=|website=Siblings Australia|publisher=|access-date=2016-05-16}} another family member, a friend or someone who does not necessarily live in the same house as them.

There are support programs to assist young carers both emotionally and financially with day-to-day tasks and making decisions. These programs offer face-to-face counselling, online programs, and phone helplines.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youngcarersnetwork.com.au/find-a-support-service|title=Find a support service|last=|first=|date=|website=Young Carers Network|publisher=Carers Australia|access-date=2019-03-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.carergateway.gov.au/support-for-young-carers|title=Support for young carers|last=|first=|date=|website=Carer Gateway|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|access-date=2016-05-16}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/Pages/who-can-help-young-carers.aspx|title=Who can help young carers?|last=|first=|date=|website=NHS Choices|publisher=|access-date=2016-05-16}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.copmi.net.au/kids-young-people/support-for-young-carers|title=Are you a young carer?|last=|first=|date=|website=COPMI - Children of Parents with a Mental Illness|publisher=|access-date=2016-05-16}}

There are estimated to be around 260,700 young carers in Australia (more than 3% of all people under 25), 83,700 of whom live in NSW. Of these living in NSW, 11,600 (13.9%) are primary carers. Around one in ten carers in NSW (9.7%) are young carers. However, many young carers are not included in these statistics as they are likely to be hidden carers. Fifty percent of young carers are female.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2019-10-24 |title=Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (2018) |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/disability/disability-ageing-and-carers-australia-summary-findings/latest-release |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics }}

Research has also shown that young primary carers are more likely to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders or be of a culturally or linguistically diverse background than non-carers of the same age.{{Cite web |last1=Cass |last2=Brennan |last3=Thomson |last4=Katz |last5=Mitchell |display-authors=1 |date=2011 |title=Young carers: Social policy impacts of the caring responsibilities of children and young adults |url=https://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/1_Young_Carers_Report_Final_2011.pdf}}

In terms of geographical location, 21.5% of young carers live outside of a major city.

Each Australian state and territory has a carer association that may provide information and services relevant to young carers.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-04 |title=Our Member Organisations - Carers AustraliaCarers Australia |url=https://www.carersaustralia.com.au/about-us/our-member-organisations/,%20https://www.carersaustralia.com.au/about-us/our-member-organisations/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.carersaustralia.com.au |language=en-AU}} Additionally, Carer Gateway, the national service system for carers in Australia, provides information and support for unpaid young carers and can be reached on 1800 422 737.{{Cite web |title=Services and support {{!}} Carer Gateway |url=https://www.carergateway.gov.au/services-and-support |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.carergateway.gov.au |language=en}} The Young Carers Network is a national website that also provides young carers with information on their local support services, helpful resources and a platform to share their story and opinions.{{Cite web |title=Visit the Young Carers Network |url=https://youngcarersnetwork.com.au/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=Young Carers Network |language=en-AU}}

Carers NSW Young Carer Program provides information and referral support to young carers in NSW and the professionals, educators and community members who support them.{{Cite web |title=Young Carer Program at Carers NSW |url=https://www.carersnsw.org.au/services-and-support/programs-services/young-carers/young-carer-program-at-carers-nsw |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Carers NSW |language=en}}

Little Dreamers Australia is an independent not-for-profit that supports Young Carers across Australia.{{cite web |url=http://www.littledreamers.org.au/ |title=Home |website=littledreamers.org.au}}

According to the Carers Trust, in 2016 there were around 700,000 young carers in the UK{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=About young carers {{!}} Carers Trust|url=https://carers.org/about-us/about-young-carers|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001201124/https://carers.org/about-us/about-young-carers|archive-date=1 October 2016|access-date=27 September 2016|website=carers.org}} which is approximately 1 in every 12 teenagers and around 2 in every classroom. Some support programmes for young carers have been cut due to austerity. The amount of support young carers get varies from area to area and is subject to a postcode lottery.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Being_a_young_carer Being a young carer] BBC

Researchers explored the needs of young carers and the people they care for with respect to the support they receive (for example, social care worker visits, counselling and school support). They found that young carers wanted support to be well signposted and accessible, empathetic, trustworthy and confidential. The researchers suggest that young carers would benefit from improved support for the people they care for (such as more support from a care worker), support from services that takes account of the whole family, and their strengths and needs, clear and accessible information about support services, and help in accessing and trying them out.{{Cite journal |last=Stevens |first=Madeleine |last2=Brimblecombe |first2=Nicola |last3=Gowen |first3=Sara |last4=Skyer |first4=Robin |last5=Moriarty |first5=Jo |date=2024-03-29 |title=Young carers’ experiences of services and support: What is helpful and how can support be improved? |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0300551 |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=e0300551 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0300551 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=10980198 |pmid=38551988 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |date=14 November 2024 |title=What support do young carers find helpful? |url=https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/what-support-do-young-carers-find-helpful/ |journal=NIHR Evidence}} 

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• {{citation |first1=Stephen |last1=Joseph |first2=Claire |last2=Kendall |first3=Deirdre |last3=Toher |first4=Joe |last4=Sempik |first5=Jennifer |last5=Holland |first6=Saul |last6=Becker |author-link=Saul Becker |title=Young carers in England: Findings from the 2018 BBC survey on the prevalence and nature of caring among young people |date=2019 |journal=Child: Care, Health and Development |pages=606–612 |volume=45 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/cch.12674|pmid=30995694 |s2cid=121354023 |url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/83439/1/Becker%20S%202019.pdf }}

• http://www.youngcarersnetwork.com.au/ - A place for young carers to learn about their local support services in Australia
• https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/young-carers - Young Carers in the UK
• [http://www.ycrg.org.uk/ Young Carers Research Group, Loughborough University, UK]
• http://www.youngcarers.net/ - Young Carers Chat
• http://www.ycptoronto.com/ - Young Carers Program in Canada
• [http://www.superhands.at www.superhands.at]- Support of Young Carers in Austria
• https://www.young-carers.ch - Support of Young Carers in Switzerland
• https://www.northamptonshire-carers.org/young-carers - Northamptonshire Young Carers, an example of a social group for Young Carers.

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