Background and objectives Research into carers of people with young onset dementia (YOD) has highlighted that carers may experience more distress than late onset dementia (LOD) carers (e.g. Freyne, Kidd, Coen & Lawlor, 1999), and have specific needs which differ from those of LOO carers (e.g. Svanberg, Spectar & Slott, 2011). Difficulties with employment has been raised as a particular issue for this population (e.g. van Vliet, de Vugt, Bakker, Koopmans & Verhey, 2010), yet no qualitative study has examined the factors influencing carers' experience of employment.