‘THESE are not actions that children in Scotland should have to take” – teenage carers have been driven further into poverty by the pandemic, vital new research shows.
Researchers have uncovered the grim reality of life for young Scots juggling work, school and caring for family members as the Covid crisis hits the incomes of the most vulnerable households.
Young people looking after family remembers revealed how they’d tried to earn more money while juggling schoolwork as household finances worsened.
Half of those questioned – all of whom were aged 13-17 – said they’d had to use foodbanks in the last year. Fourteen-year-old Lou, whose name has been changed, told researchers: “Sometimes we have no money to do the weekly food shopping.”
As many as 24% of young Scots are understood to live in poverty. Work by The Children’s Society from 2013 suggests households with young carers are an average of £5000-a-year worse-off than others, with many living in households without any adults in paid employment.
READ MORE: Scottish Government must commit to showing young carers they are valued
The new findings come from work by the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) as part of its partnership with Oxfam. Researchers found “the financial peril facing young carers and their families has worsened during the pandemic, with some household members being made redundant, having to work fewer hours, or facing a reduction in their income due to the furlough scheme”.
Some of the young carers who participated in the research told how they’d taken on extra paid work during the pandemic to address income gaps. This required balancing a combination of paid work, caring and schoolwork.
Meanwhile shortfalls in support services for young carers and those they assist from March 2020 caused by social distancing concerns has also led to some family members putting in more hours of care, according to the findings, which are based on interviews and surveys.
While some additional measures have been put in place to support those providing unpaid care in Scotland, these are “insufficient”, according to the study.
The researchers make a series of recommendations to increase specific financial and other forms of support to young carers, while increasing the overall incomes of households in which someone requires care.
Co-author Dr Chloe Maclean, a lecturer in social sciences, said: “Covid-19 has created challenges for many people; however, young carers have had a particularly difficult time.
“Work by organisations such as the Carers Trust has shown that young carers’ mental health has deteriorated during the pandemic, whilst their caring responsibilities have only increased. Our research demonstrates the financial challenges young carers have faced.”
She went on: “We don’t often think of children taking on roles which include looking after the family finances, but this study demonstrates that young carers have been forced to assess and worry about their household’s financial situation, looked for paid employment, and limit what they eat, buy, or do to help make ends meet.
These are not actions that children in Scotland should have to take.”
READ MORE: Greens call for benefit support as figures show record number of families losing out
The UWS-Oxfam Partnership is working with Scottish Care, One Parent Families Scotland, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group and the seven national carer organisations to develop a blueprint for a new National Outcome on valuing and investing in care work for inclusion within the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework.
Commenting on the study, which comes just less than two months after May’s Scottish Parliament election, Oxfam Scotland head Jamie Livingstone (above) said: “This research confirms what many carers across Scotland have known for a very long time – that there’s often an unacceptable poverty price for selflessly looking after a loved one.
“However, the experiences shared in this research by young carers is particularly concerning.
“If the new Scottish Government is serious about building a more caring country, then it should create a new national outcome focused on valuing and investing in all types of care to drive measurable policy and spending action ensuring that no one – and particularly no young person – is left in poverty as a consequence of caring.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here