Parents of Young Carers
It is not always obvious that you’re a Parent Carer, and often Parents won’t know their child is a Young Carer. If you are a Parent of a Young Carer, you can help by referring your child and guiding them to the support they can receive.
Understanding Your Young Carer
A Young Carer is a child or young person who helps to care for a family member because of illness, disability, mental health needs, or other challenges.
Many parents do not realise their child is a Young Carer, as caring can become part of everyday family life. Children often step in naturally to help, and may not talk about how much they are doing or how it is making them feel.
There is no judgement in recognising this. Only an opportunity to put the right support in place.
Understanding your child’s caring role can help them feel seen and listened to. Being a Young Carer can affect a child’s wellbeing, education, and friendships, and they may feel worried, tired, or more grown-up than other children their age. Acknowledging their experience and talking openly as a family is a positive first step towards support.
Reducing the Impact
Reducing the impact of caring means making sure your child’s role does not affect their health, happiness, or future opportunities.
Parents can help by talking to their child’s school so staff understand their situation and can offer flexibility and support where needed. This might include help with attendance, homework, or providing a trusted adult your child can talk to in school.
Families can also reduce pressure by accessing specialist support. Signing your child up to the Dudley Young Carers Service can provide practical help, emotional support, and opportunities for your child to have time away from caring.
If your child helps care for someone at home, you may be a Carer too. Dudley Carers Hub is there to support you – contact the Adult Carer Service via the referral form to learn more.
Support is about working in partnership with families, not judging them, and helping every child to thrive, not just cope.
Resources for Parents of Young Carers
Benefits Calculator
Use our free and confidential ‘entitledto’ Benefits Calculator to find out what benefits you may be eligible to claim. You can return to your results later – just take a note of your reference code. Our Benefits Calculator will provide comprehensive welfare entitlement information, relevant to your situation. It will be helpful to have various documents to hand (and for your partner if you have one) as follows:
- Income details e.g. earnings, pensions, allowances and state benefits.
- Your partner’s income, including benefits as you will be assessed as a couple.
- Savings, investments and other capital.
- Annual council tax bill and any help you get with it.
- Rent or mortgage payments.
- Others living with you and their income.
Adding ‘Emergency Contact’ (ICE) Details to your phone
As a parent of a Young Carer, it’s essential for them to be prepared for any situation.
One simple but important step is adding emergency contact details to their phone. This ensures that, in case of an emergency, someone can quickly contact their emergency contact or medical professionals.
By setting up a “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) contacts, you can provide peace of mind for yourself, your child and who they care for, knowing help can be reached swiftly when it’s needed most. Watch the videos we have created below to help you set this up!
