Young carers in Europe: an exploratory cross-national study in Britain, France, Sweden and Germany

Young carers are children and young people under the age of 18 who provide care for a parent or relative in the community, usually within their own home. They can perform the most personal and intimate of tasks for their parents or other family members, often without any help or support from welfare agencies. Many children provide care at great personal expense -they are deprived of their childhood, many miss out on educational opportunities, few have established friendships or other support networks. No one is sure what the long term implications of caring are on a child’s health or psycho-social development. Many young carers are hidden. They are forgotten or ignored by policy makers and service providers at national and local levels; they do not feature in the literature on community care, family care and children’s rights; and young carers’ experiences and needs are not explicitly recognised in social and family policies.