Youth

Presents views on social care among children. Overview of a 2005 report by The Education Network about young carers; Decision to be a good parent upon the acquisition of a disability; Reasons why parents should impose responsibilities on their children when they risk damaging their futures.

The purpose of this study was to develop an empirically derived multi-item scale of care tasks performed by young people in the context of family illness/disability: the Youth Activities of Caregiving Scale (YACS). A total of 135 youngsters aged 10–24 years with an ill/disabled family member completed questionnaires. Factor analyses performed on the YACS yielded four factors, instrumental care, social/emotional care, personal/intimate care and domestic/household care, accounting for 57.78% of the variance. The internal reliabilities of all factors ranged from 0.74 to 0.92.

The author reflects on the invisibility of young carers in North America. According to the author, these young people are hyper-mature for their age and usually take on adult responsibilities in their families. He says these people sacrifice their childhood to care for family members. Information on support programmes for young carers in North America is provided.

The article looks at the initial outcome of the British Columbia Young Carers Study. The study has been funded by the Hamptons Fund at the University of British Columbia and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. One of the components of the study is to examine the prevalence of youth caring within the general adolescent population. The first stage of the study involved a survey of high school students at an urban centre in British Columbia. They found that 12.2 percent of the students are young carers.

Reports on the results of studies on the role of young people as caregivers for family members. Needs of patients that have to be met; Extent of young caring generally; Concerns and worries of young carers.

The term ‘young carer’ refers to those youth under the age of 25 years who provide substantial unpaid support to a family member due to factors including, but not limited to, familial or parental absence, disability, mental health issue(s) or problems with alcohol and/or other drugs. In the UK, national statistics have been integral to tracking the prevalence of young carers while serving as an important tool towards the development of (and justification for) a national legislative framework supporting these youth.

Discusses the "Young Carers in the UK: The 2004 Report" which focuses on the third national survey of young carers in Great Britain. Data collection for the survey; Information on people with care needs; Range of caring tasks young people perform; Percentage of young carers providing different tasks; Impact of caring tasks on educational experiences of carers; Percentage of young carers assessed under the Children Act.

The concept of social capital is very much an ‘adult’ concept, created by adults for adults, with children as the passive recipients of, primarily, parental social capital. The concept has been broken down into three particular subcategories – bonding (getting by), bridging (getting on) and linking (getting around). However, these subcategories equally do not relate readily to children and young people nor to different groups of young people.