My Youth Ambassadors advocate to make children’s lives better across the country. Here, Ambassador Emma reflects on her role working with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Young Carers and its inquiry into the barriers to higher education, employment and training for young adult carers.
The APPG launched its report in Parliament yesterday, which looked at the impact many young carers feel balancing caring, earning and learning has on their future opportunities. It raises concerns around support being a postcode lottery especially when transitioning to higher education, poor data collection on caring responsibilities of young people and a lack of support for young carers with additional needs.
Young carers at the APPG report launch said they were not asking for special treatment, but for fairness. Emma has been contributing to the APPG’s inquiry – here is some of her story:
I am a young carer from Sheffield, and alongside other young carers I have been working closely to help contribute to the APPG’s inquiry with my own experiences.
A young carer is someone under the age of 18 who looks after a family member or friend who has a physical or mental health condition, or who might misuse drugs or alcohol.
The 2021 ONS census reported there were around 120,000 young carers in England, while the Department for Education’s school census found 64,500 young carers in the country in 2024/25. The Children’s Commissioner’s School and College Census, published in September, found that school leaders believe there to be nearly 74,683 young carers among their students.
As an Ambassador for the Children’s Commissioner I think it’s important that I spread awareness about being a young carer and the APPG’s inquiry, so I interviewed other young people who are young carers to share our experiences about the barriers we face.
I know from my experience of being a young carer and grappling with how challenging school can be. I always found it hard to leave my caring responsibilities at home, which meant I would never be fully engrossed in my studies. I would be overwhelmed and stressed from what might be going on at home, and I couldn’t manage it with school.
I wanted to find out more from other young carers about their experiences. So I sent out an email with some questions such as ‘How has your role as a young carer impacted your education journey so far?’ to five young carers in my network and asked them to respond in writing. The following are responses from a couple of young carers who responded with their own experiences:
“Being a carer is stressful! When you have been a carer for so long, you don’t realise how the stress builds up and how heavy it is to carry with you all the time.”
“I was just focussed on feeling bad that I wasn’t there to help and wondering if anything had happened.”
These responses demonstrate young carers have shared experience with a similar impact on performance in school, college or the workplace as well as the significant impact to mental health trying to tackle the impossible situation of balancing schoolwork with caring responsibilities.
When I asked the young carers about what they thought the main challenge when thinking of going on to higher education was, I got a variety of replies; for some it was not being able to leave home, limiting the choice of universities they could go to. For some of these young carers who do not live in big cities it means they felt they had limited choices and they couldn’t do the specific course they wanted, potentially putting them off going onto higher education altogether.
Others spoke about ‘financial pressure’ and how to afford university while supporting the people they care for at home. Another said,
“Who will take over my caring responsibilities if I move away or get busier?”
I found out more about the kind of support young carers were receiving at university and the challenges with getting this:
“I do think schools can be more vocal so students that may be nervous to ask for support feel that it’s already there for them.”
“Open University, I was so impressed with the support they gave me! Because it is an alternative and flexible form of higher education.”
“The need to ‘prove’ myself and the difficult things I was going through.”
I then asked them what they think could make the support for young carers better. They said:
“The main things for me are flexibility and understanding. We already have to deal with huge amounts of stress and when you have to fight the system for basic support so you can achieve the same things as other people, it is exhausting. I think that there needs to be more training in education organisations to raise awareness of young carers.”
“Schools and organisations need to create a space where young carers feel safe and understood without having to constantly explain themselves. Trained staff who recognise the signs, regular check-ins, flexible deadlines, and someone we can talk to who listens and follows through with help. Just knowing someone cares and understands makes a huge difference.”
Finances can be a huge barrier for young carers, especially when it comes to higher education, training and job opportunities. The young carers I spoke with shared their own struggles with the financial barrier that comes with being a young carer:
“Worrying about money just adds more pressure. Things like travel costs, resources for studying, or even just having time to work a part-time job aren’t always possible when you’re caring for someone. It can make you feel like you must choose between your education and your responsibilities. More financial support or flexible options would really help take some of that weight off.”
The following response illustrates it can be difficult to navigate what support is out there for young carers:
“I find it difficult to know what support is available as you can get lost on infinite websites and the information can be very overwhelming.”
We also spoke about support that is or isn’t available for young adult carers who are trying to find a job:
“My parents have limited time and energy due to the time they have to dedicate to my sibling. This means that I haven’t been practicing driving very much and we also haven’t got round to booking any tests yet. I think that it would be really helpful for there to be a scheme for young carers to receive support for getting a driving license, as I think that the main barrier for me getting a job at the moment is transport, because I cannot guarantee that my parents will be able to drive me places.”
“My availability can change depending on what’s happening at home, so having an employer who understands that would make a big difference. Help with things like writing a CV, interview prep, and knowing what kind of jobs can fit around my caring role would also be really useful. Even just having someone to guide me through the process and boost my confidence would help me feel more ready to work.”
Speaking with young adult carers has shown the barriers that young adult carers face and the importance of the inquiry in raising awareness of these barriers with the people who can address them. The APPG inquiry has reported in Parliament yesterday and I am hoping that it will not only increase awareness but also improve the levels of support available.
