Young Carers in Australia: Understanding Experiences of Caring and Support-Seeking Behaviour

ABSTRACT

Although young carers experience several challenges associated with their roles, little is known about the current effects of those challenges on their education, work, and social life. Their support-seeking behaviour is also under-researched. Based on findings from 25 interviews and a focus group discussion, this qualitative study presents insights into the effects of providing informal care on the lives of young carers and their support-seeking behaviour. Participants reported several physical, mental, and social effects of caring that have either positive or negative implications for their lives. Whereas providing care influenced early maturity, self-efficacy, and formation of stronger bonds with care recipients, it also limited participants’ ability to find work, focus on their education, and socialise with peers. Utilisation of formal community-based and professional support services was low among the participants. Stigma associated with the label “carer”; lack of youth-friendly service settings; lack of self-identification of carer status; and a lack of cultural, age, and specific support services for different stages of caring constrained the use of support services among participants. In contrast, positive attitudes of service providers encouraged the use of support services. These findings highlight an urgent need for more professional support for young carers.

IMPLICATIONS

• Failure to provide sufficient professional support to young carers can aggravate the negative consequences associated with their caring roles.

• Social workers and other professionals can strengthen their collaboration with educators, work supervisors, and other support agencies to address the challenges of providing care at a young age.

• Given that caring roles often influence early maturity and self-efficacy for young carers, social workers and other professionals can consider using strength-based approaches in addressing challenges associated with providing care, including those related to support-seeking behaviour.

KEYWORDS:

• Young Carers
• Informal Care
• Australia
• Support-Seeking Behaviour
• Caring
• Care Giving
• Caregiver
• Carer Burden

Acknowledgements

The findings from this paper are based on a substudy within the Carers NSW 2020 National Carer Survey. We would like to thank the project advisory group which included Paula Gleeson, Senior Social Researcher, Centre for Carers Research, University of Technology, Sydney; Myra Hamilton, Principal Research Fellow, Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, The University of Sydney Business School; Karen Hutchinson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University; Abner Poon, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney; Cathy Thomson, Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW; Alex Berger, former young carer and Young Carer Leader, Carers NSW; Amanda Sharma, former young carer and Carer Representative, Carers NSW; Sarah Judd-Lam, Manager, Policy and Research, Carers NSW; Natalie Steinhardt, Young Carer Project Officer, Carers NSW. We would also like to give special thanks to the CEO of Carers NSW, Elena Katrakis, for her useful feedback and support for this project. Lastly but equally importantly, we extend our gratitude to all the young carers who participated in this study for giving their time and sharing their experiences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting this study have been deposited in Carers NSW data repository. Interested persons might require permission to access the data.

Ethical Approval

Ethics approval was received from the Human Research Ethics Committee of Macquarie University on 2 March 2020 (Reference Number: 6233). The study was conducted in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Social Services and the NSW Department of Communities and Justice; Carers NSW.