• Social Policy Research Centre

Read the full text

Image: erin MC hammer / flickr

16 December 2011In 2003, there were 348,600 young people aged up to 24 years providing care in Australia:

• 170,600 children and teenagers up to age 17 (3.6 per cent of this age range).
• and a further 178,000 young adults aged 18-24 years (9.1 per cent of this age range). (Australian Bureau of Statistics (SDAC), 2004).

These numbers are considered an underestimate, since some young people are reluctant to reveal caregiving within their families or do not see themselves as carers. In the last two decades in Australia, the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, and some parts of continental Europe, there has been growing recognition of young carers as a social category with experiences and needs distinct from those of their peers. In recent years, young carers have become a growing focus of research, public policy, and the design and delivery of community services, especially in the UK and Australia.

The research in this report fills a critical gap in Australia, by contributing a theoretically-informed and policy-focused quantitative and qualitative study on young carers. The findings provide innovative contributions to theories of care provided by young people; evidence about the diverse socio-economic and demographic characteristics of young carers and care recipients, young people's pathways into care provision, and the impacts of caring on their education, employment, social participation and health; and the development of supportive policies and services.

Image: erin MC hammer / flickr