Abstract
Young carers often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities
that would normally be expected of an adult. For many of these children and young people,
caring has been shown to have a detrimental effect on their lives. For example, caring at a
young age appears to be associated with poor health and well-being, bullying and poorer
educational outcomes. However, previous research has tended to be retrospective, carried
out using small surveys of secondary school-aged children or to use qualitative methods
with young people associated with caring projects. In contrast, little is known about the
extent and nature of caring undertaken by younger children. This paper reports findings
from a random sample survey of 10 and 11 year old children in the final year of their
primary school education. 4,192 children completed the Kids’ Life and Times (KLT)
online survey in 2011. Twelve percent of respondents to KLT said they helped look after
someone in their household who was sick, elderly or disabled. Supporting previous
qualitative research, this survey showed that children who were carers had poorer health
and well-being, reported less happiness with their lives, were more likely to be bullied at
school and had poorer educational aspirations and outcomes than their peers who were not
carers. These findings suggest that teachers need to discuss the issue of caring with children
in the classroom in a general and supportive way so that young carers feel able to confide
in them and seek support if they need it.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 67-80 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Happiness Studies |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)