Young adult carers are young people aged 16–25 who care for a family member or friend. The person they care for might have an illness, disability, mental health condition or an addiction.
The care they give is unpaid.
Young Adult Carers age 18 and over do not need parental consent for a referral to support services.
What kind of tasks does a young adult carer do?
- Practical things, like cooking, housework and shopping.
- Physical care, like helping someone out of bed.
- Emotional support, like talking or listening to someone who is distressed.
- Personal care, like helping someone dress, shower or go to the toilet.
- Managing the family budget.
- Collecting prescriptions.
- Helping to give someone their medication.
- Helping someone communicate.
- Taking care of brothers and sisters.
Looking after family members or friends can impact on your life.
- It can affect your health, social life and self confidence.
- You may struggle to manage your education, working life and caring role which can cause pressure and stress.
- Research shows many young adult carers leave education with GCSEs at grades D–G as their highest qualification. (Carers UK).
- Almost 1 in 3 (29%) had to drop out of college or university because of their caring role. That’s four times higher than the national average. (Carers UK)
There are positive aspects of being a young adult carer. You will have lots of transferable skills that will support you in adulthood and your career.
Who can support you?
Next Steps Transition Service
Next Steps supports young people aged 15–25 who look after someone. The service offers different types of help, depending on your situation, to make your caring responsibilities easier to manage.
Local young carers helped design Next Steps, from the logo to the services on offer, so it reflects what carers really need. The service includes:
- Transition Assessment: finds out what support and adjustments you need as you move into adult services.
- Young Adult Carers Passport: saves you from having to repeat your story every time you use a new service.
- Personalised Support Planning: helps you prepare and move smoothly into adult services.
Next Steps contact details
Phone: 01642 756000 or 01642 488977
Text/Whats App: General information-07767117556 Monday to Friday 9-5pm
Email: info@carerstogether-rc.org.uk or info@thejunctionfoundation.co.uk
Website: www.thejunctionfoundation.com or www.carerstogether.co.uk
Socials: Facebook/Instagram/TikTok/Twitter Next Steps RC