Young carers struggle for respite during lockdown
New research from the Carers Trust has found more than half of young carers are spending an extra 10 hours a week on their caring responsibilities since the start of the pandemic
A young carer is telling MFR how the only respite she got during lockdown was walking on her own at night.
21 year-old Charlotte from Edinburgh helps care for her mum and took on extra responsibilities when her district nurses stopped coming because of Coronavirus.
A new Carers Trust survey has found that 58% of young carers who are caring for longer since Coronavirus are spending on average ten hours a week more on their caring responsibilities. Among young adult carers the proportion is even higher at 63.6%.
When asked what difference Coronavirus had made to them, 56% of young carers said their education was suffering and 40% said their mental health had worsened. Asked the same question, 59% of young adult carers said their mental health had become worse and 42% said they had been unable to take a break from caring.
21 year-old Hannah from Edinburgh told us: "I had to get quite a lot of extensions on my assignments just because I was really struggling to find that space and headspace to do my work. What I would usually do is just pack a bag and go to the library but because I wasn't able to do that I really struggled.
"Normally I would meet up with my friends and just rant about my home situation but obviously we weren't allowed to do that. No one was allowed to go see their friends so instead what I was doing was going for walks by myself at night just to get a little bit of space. My dad would ask if he could come with me and I had to say no because I just needed away from everyone for a minute.
"I like the fact now that cafes can still be open now, that helps me a lot because it means I can just go and pack a bag and sit somewhere for half a day. That's my respite. That's what I have to do for myself to keep myself sane.
"I've been caring since I was 8 years old, so I've been in it for a really long time but actually I've only really figured out in the last year or two what it is I need to do for myself to make sure I can be the best carer possible for my mum."
Carers Trust CEO and former young carer, Gareth Howells, said: “This is the first snapshot of how Coronavirus is affecting hundreds of thousands of young people with caring responsibilities across the UK. And the results are truly shocking. They cannot, and must not, be ignored. "Even before the pandemic struck, the failure of successive UK governments to properly fund social care meant that an intolerable strain was being placed on young people who had to step in to provide the care that a cash-starved social care system increasingly could not.
"That over-dependence on young carers and young adult carers has created a ticking timebomb with their mental health and wellbeing being placed at serious risk.
"Coronavirus, and our findings of its impact, have brought into sharper focus still the unacceptable pressures young carers are under and the effect this is having on their wellbeing and life chances. There are estimated to be around one million young carers alone across the UK and today’s findings are the wake-up call that can no longer be ignored.
"We’re long past the time when sympathy and kind words for young carers is enough. Hundreds of thousands of young carers across the UK need real support and we are calling on the government to urgently invest in support services for young carers to ensure they get the support they need.”
Hear all the latest news from across the North of Scotland on the hour, every hour, at MFR. Listen on FM, via our MFR app, on your DAB radio, online at MFR.co.uk, or say ‘Play MFR’ on your Smart Speaker.