‘‘..It takes a lot of brain space’: Understanding young carers’ lives in England and the
implications for policy and practice to reduce inappropriate and excessive care work‘

Author(s): Margaret Gowen, Sara; Sarojini Hart, Caroline; Sehmar, Permala; Wigfield, Andrea
Publisher: Children & Society
Year Published: 2022
Resource type: Peer Reviewed Research Article

Summary:

This article explores young carers’ perspectives on the nature of their care responsibilities in relation to concepts such as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘excessive’ care in the Care Act 2014. The study had 21 young carers between the ages of 8 and 18 years participate in one of four focus groups. Findings demonstrated seven indicators of inappropriate caring: global personal care; global strenuous and physical activities; global responsibility for medication; global household financial responsibility; global emotional support and responsibility for the cared for adult; global parenting responsibility; and global self-care responsibility. Also, the study reflected the
multi-dimensions of caring responsibilities through identifying seven key dimensions of care: frequency; duration; range; severity; overnight; sole carer; and choice by child.

Citation: Margaret, G. S., Sarojini, H. C., Sehmar, P., & Wigfield, A. (2022). “..It takes a lot of brain space”: Understanding young carers’ lives in England and the implications for policy and practice to reduce inappropriate and excessive care work. Children & Society, 36(1), 118–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12488

Keywords: Child development; family policy and practice; rights; Young carers

Where the data was collected: England