As a young carer, you may end up doing lots of different jobs to help the person you care for, and the rest of your family too.
For instance, you might do some of the following:
This could include vacuuming, dusting, cleaning floors, washing dishes, doing laundry and making the bed. There could also be gardening jobs like watering plants, weeding and lawnmowing that need doing. And if your family has a pet, you might help with feeding and walking them too.
This could be everything from cooking for your family to doing the food shopping, from planning meals to physically helping the person you care for to eat and drink.
These tasks make up a significant portion of what is known as ‘personal care’. This can cover a wide variety of different tasks, including helping the person you care for to bathe, comb their hair, brush their teeth, cut their nails, apply creams and lotions, put on make-up, shave, and get dressed and undressed.
There are a range of different tasks that you may need to do for the person you care for so that they can use the toilet. They could need support getting to the bathroom and then sitting down when they get there. You may need to help them with undoing zips and buttons or removing some of their clothes. They may need you to pass them toilet paper, or you may need to clean them afterwards. And then you may need to help them wash their hands when they are finished.
You might help the person you care for to get in and out of bed, stand up or sit down, go up and down stairs, or to move from one place to another. Maybe you help to push their wheelchair for them when they leave the house.
Another part of your role could be helping the person you care for with their medication. This could be anything from reminding them to take it at certain times of day, to organising and collecting repeat prescriptions and administering some medicines yourself. They may also need help with other medical tasks, such as changing dressings or bandages.
Another of the tasks that can often fall to young carers is assisting with your family’s money. This could include making sure the bills are paid and that your family are receiving all the benefits and other support they are entitled to.
You may not just help to look after the person in your family with a disability or illness, you may look after other people too. For instance, you might look after your other siblings, including playing with them, helping with their homework or picking them up from school.
This is an element of being a young carer that is often overlooked. Talking to them about how they are feeling, listening to them when they want to talk and providing reassurance and support when they are worried, upset or anxious are all very important parts of caring.
Simply spending time with someone to stop them feeling lonely is a very important job. Being there with them and providing a reassuring presence and a friendly face can sometimes be enough to help them feel a bit better.
This can mean making sure that their voice is heard, their condition taken seriously and that they receive the treatment they need.
Being a carer for someone doesn’t have to be all about work. Bringing some light-hearted fun to the person you care for’s life is also a really important part of your role. It deserves to be prioritised as much as washing the dishes or brushing their hair.
The jobs that young carers do are incredibly varied so you may well also do other tasks that aren’t on our list. If you would like some further advice that might help you with these jobs, take a look at our guide ‘Helping someone with everyday tasks as a young carer’.
Remember though that being a young carer should not take over your whole life. It should not regularly impact on your schoolwork or stop you being able to play with your friends and have a childhood. It is normal to want to do everything you can to help someone you love, but you are important too and you need to look after yourself as well. For more ideas about to make sure you keep yourself well, take a look at our guide ‘Looking after yourself as a young carer’.
One-to-one support
Whether you're a young carer in need of support or you're a professional concerned about somebody, you can refer through our local services.
Online Help and Advice
Visit our online support section where we have provided advice and guidance on a range of relevant topics to help you in your caring role.