Young Carers

A young carer is someone aged under 18 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.
For more information about what sort of things a young carer may do, watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxzoS3-ILu4
 
And here is a comic about young carer Health Champions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8SRDnJmm4
 
This is a link to a blog posted March 16th 2021, on Young Carers Action Day How being a young carer helped me develop the skills to become a student nurse,
 
 
Help for young people can be found About Us - Caring as a Young Carer

Page last reviewed: 05 September 2025
Page created: 05 September 2025