Nationally there are roughly 3 million unpaid carers and least 391,300 of these are classified as young carers according to the Young Carers Network. A young carer is defined as someone under the age of 25 years old who provides unpaid care and support to family member/s, or friends with a disability, physical or mental illness, a substance dependency or who is aged. In Wave 2 of GENERATION we asked 16-17 year olds about whether they are young carers. Previous research has reported that because of their caring responsibilities young carers educational outcomes are compromised (Warren & Edwards, 2017) and consequently their life choices are affected. In this data story, we report on the percentage of 16-17 year old young carers, their demographic characteristics and their educational plans for the future.
16.4% of young people in Year 11 reported being a young carers who help someone with a long-term health condition or chronic illness.
Of those who reported being a young carer 51.1% identified as male and 45.9% identified as female.
7.1% of young people reported they were caring for someone living with them but an even greater number 9.4% were caring for someone living elsewhere.
32.1% of young people who reported being a young carer also identified as person with a disability.
In Wave 2 of GENERATION, young people were asked whether they were a young carer in the last 6 months "Do you help someone who has a long-term health condition, has a disability or is elderly, with activities that they would have trouble doing on their own? - Examples of this might be helping the person to wash or dress, cooking for them and helping them to move around or communicate with others."
Based on the answer to this and other follow up questions, 16% of young people in reported they were young unpaid carer with 10% caring for one person and 6% caring for more than one person.
In terms of demographic characteristics, unlike with adult carers where females are far more likely to be a carer, just over half (51%) of of all young people, who reported they were a young carer were male. Of the whole GENERATION cohort, 20% of males reported they were a young carer while only 14% of females did so.
Similar to other studies that have examined carer for a person with a disability or frail age, 42% of young people who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander also reported being a young carer, highlighting potential cultural or family responsibilities in caring but also the disproportionate health burden that Indigenous communities experience (Edwards, Gray, Baxter & Hunter, 2009).
Often those with a disability also have additional caring responsibilities. Of the young people who identified as someone with a disability 20% also reported being a carer, which equates to 32% of all young carers identifying as a young person with a disability. These findings suggests that these young people may well require much more additional support.
In terms of the amount of care provided, most young carers (50%) are providing less than 2 hours care a week, while a third of young carers (32%) spend 2 to 5 hours, 12% 5 to 10 hours and a little over 5% 10 or more hours per week.
In 2024, the Federal Government's Universities Accord was released and included an aspirational goal of having 80% of Australians attain a tertiary education (Certificate III or higher) over the next 25 years.
Somewhat short of the 80% participation target in higher education in the Accord, 71% of young carers aspire to completing at least one type of higher education (not shown in the chart above). The majority (60%) of young carers wanted to study at university. One in ten young carers wanted to go to TAFE (13%) or complete an apprentice (12%).
Given that part-time work is common for students to combine with further study it is not surprising that 37% also want to work at a job. One third of young carers (33%) also want to travel or take a gap year after completing their schooling.
While the data presented in the graph above highlights young carers aspirations in Year 11, it is critical to see whether given their caring responsibilities, they are able to realise these dreams.