ABSTRACT
There are currently as many as 50,000 children in Britain who are providing substantial and regular care for an ill or disabled parent or other relative in the home. These children are “young carers”. Research and campaign work in Britain over the past decade has identified young caring as an issue for social and political concern and has led to developments in community care policy and law. Furthermore, young carers’ rights are no longer simply defined in terms of a hypothetical “wish list” as they were when young caring was first recognised in social science research, but are now firmly established in British law and social policy. This chapter examines the nature and consequences for children who are carers, and traces the social and political changes that have affected their lives and the lives of their families.
