Society
The hidden burden on young shoulders
Published 21 May 2007
The appalling plight of Britain's child carers
There are some issues that we can all agree on. War is hell; vegetables are healthy; we are heartily relieved that Paris Hilton's pop career seems to have been cut short in its infancy. Another example would be the situation of child carers. I think - I hope - that I would have to travel a long way before I found someone untroubled by the idea of a child shouldering responsibility for a seriously ill or disabled relative. It is, unquestionably, a bad thing.
The problem with cut-and-dried issues is that discussion around them often remains barren. That is particularly true when the said issue is a heartbreaker. Start thinking about those children caring for someone with a chronic condition, for instance, and you quickly realise that unless the children are given some help, these respon sibilities may end not when the child turns 18 or 21, but with the death of the person they look after, or with the child's own death. It is the very definition of a no-win situation.
In recent weeks, the matter has finally fought its way on to the media agenda as the result of another slice of heartbreak - the story of a 13-year-old girl who helped care for her terminally ill mother for four years before taking a fatal overdose of her mother's morphine tablets.
Following the inquest, the coroner wrote to the children's minister, Beverley Hughes, demanding an inquiry into the situation for young carers. This demand helped highlight some harrowing statistics: at present, there are 175,000 children caring for sick or disabled relatives; one in ten is caring for more than one adult; 13,000 spend more than 50 hours a week on their caring responsibilities.
The average age of child carers is 12, but start researching this subject and you come across cases such as that of Michael, aged five, whose mother suffers from a degenerative disease. Michael helps her to the toilet and shower, reminds her to take her tablets, and can dismantle her wheelchair to fit into a car.
Speaking to the BBC last year, his mother noted that, "as well as looking after me, he has learned to look after himself. If he falls he knows I cannot get to him, so he picks himself up." It's clear that Michael and his mother get along very well but, as she says: "He needs time to be a child and not worry about me."
Child carers report many of the same health problems as their adult counterparts - depression, anxiety, stress, extreme tiredness - and there is concern about high levels of self-harm. Speaking to the charity Carers UK, Sam, 15, who cares for her mother, described breaking down when her mother's illness suddenly got worse. "I was cooking the dinner, doing five or six pieces of homework a night, and looking after my sister. That was it. I had a nervous breakdown and became very withdrawn. I was constantly crying."
What is particularly shocking is that the situation for young carers could be getting worse. One reason for this is last year's splitting of social services, with services for adults now coming under the Department of Health and those for children under the Department for Education and Skills.
Young carers have always been difficult to identify. Parents and children are often terrified that acknowledging their situation will lead to the child being placed in care. The splitting of services has made child carers even less likely to be identified; charity workers say that, although they should, adult services often won't enquire about their clients' parental situation. The other major impact is that if a young carer is identified, there can be arguments about whose responsibility it is to give the family additional support. Does the onus fall on children's services (responsible for the young carer) or adults' services (responsible for the cared-for)?
Another worrying sign is that the two main sources of funding for young carers' support - the three-year Children's Fund of £450m and the Carers Grant of £185m per year - are both due to run out in March 2008. The BBC asked Beverley Hughes recently about the future of this latter fund, but she failed to give a firm answer.
There is supposed to be a person dedicated to helping young carers in every school, but often there isn't one. In fact, many child carers report that their tiredness or absence is misread as truancy. It is vital that we help these youngsters achieve, but basic mistakes are being made. For instance, 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to claim the (paltry) weekly carer's allowance of £48.65 if they look after someone for at least 35 hours a week, but only if they give up full-time education. If they're in education for 21 hours or more a week - however many hours they happen to spend caring - the help is unavailable. Who wouldn't be tempted to give up school?
Many of these problems are fairly straight forward, but not only do they need addressing, there must also be a significant push to find new ways of taking the burden from young carers' shoulders. Matthew, 16, has been a carer for his father these past five years, since he lost the use of his left side. "I wash him, bath him, put him in bed, dress him," he says. "I won't go nowhere until my dad passes away." There's no doubt that Matthew gives care out of love, but surely no one should be so trapped.
Kira Cochrane is women's editor of the Guardian
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