Happy Fall! It’s hard to believe that it’s already September, which means it’s back to school season. In my neighborhood, the kids get on the bus right in front of my house, and I get a real kick out of watching all the new kindergarten students with their huge backpacks run to hop on the bus just like the big kids every morning. I love checking my social media and seeing all of the first day of school posts. It’s such a fun time of year and one that just about everyone can relate to.
This time of year always makes me think back fondly to my own school experiences, first as a student, then in my experience working in schools, and now in my experience working with and supporting youth in a variety of different ways. Through it all, I’ve seen educators and support staff show up for kids in a variety of really important and impactful ways, and I’ve seen some that haven’t been equipped to show up in ways that were best for students.
One of the things I’ve been so passionate about in my life is helping educators and support staff to best understand how they can support young caregivers like I was. As the population of young caregivers continues to grow, so does the need for those who work closely with young people to not only increase their awareness of young caregivers, but to also understand how to support them. While many of our resources here at Caregiver Collaborative have been aimed at supporting caregivers themselves, I think it’s just as important for us to provide resources that caregivers and their families can use to help those around them understand and support them in their experience.
WHO ARE YOUNG CAREGIVERS?
In 2015, the National Alliance for Caregivers and AARP released a report which states that nearly 43.5 million adults in the United States provide some kind of “free” care for another adult or child in the last 12 months. While there has been much attention paid on those adults that provide care, little attention has been paid to the young people who provide care for loved ones living with mental or physical health challenges. This, despite the fact that somewhere between 4% and 12% of youth ages 8-18 live in households where there is a parent with a chronic illness, or roughly 1.3 to 1.4 million kids. An additional 3.6-5.5 million young adults aged 18-25 are also estimated to be providing care, many of whom are former child caregivers. Because of the aging population in the U.S.and advances in technology, the number of adults who will need assistance managing their health and their lives is likely to grow exponentially in the coming years.
HOW DOES CAREGIVING IMPACT KIDS & ACADEMICS
Children who are in a caregiving role face a unique set of challenges that their peers are often not facing. Studies on young caregivers found that they are affected in many adverse ways, including psychological stress, developmentally inappropriate behaviors, academic issues, friendship issues, and struggles with their own mental and physical health. Many young caregivers report feelings of fear around disclosing their role as a caregiver, and many report a lack of supportive or helpful response from adults & teachers when they do disclose their role.
For many young caregivers, this may result in behaviors such as failure to turn in assignments on time or at all, lack of time to study for exams, frequent absences from classes, lack of ability to focus on content due to frequent distractions, challenges with getting along with teachers, and exhibiting behavior problems in the classroom. They may also struggle to connect with their peers.
Young caregivers are focused on providing care during a time when most of their peers are focused on school & social lives. While their friends may be attending a school dance, caregivers may be at home supervising siblings or preparing meals. While their peers are thinking about attending colleges across the country, young caregivers are often wondering if they can leave home to attend college at all. As a result, young caregivers are left to try to balance their role as children, while also feeling a sense of duty to their loved ones.
As a result of these many challenges, young caregivers are 40% more likely than their peers to drop out of school.
HOW EDUCATORS CAN SUPPORT YOUNG CAREGIVERS
“The “care gap,” in particular, must be addressed in policy and practice by building a more robust care infrastructure that provides supports for, and alternatives to, adolescent caregiving.
One important step forward will be the implementation of protective policies and programs across public systems that serve youth—especially schools—to reduce the harms of unpaid and unrecognized household labor and to better support adolescents’ ability to grow, learn, and enjoy the freedoms of childhood.”
Review of Girls’ Caretaking and Household Responsibilities and Their Effects on Girls’ Lives, Geo. L.
While young caregivers often face an uphill battle, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are several things we can do to support the well-being of young caregivers.
- Be aware that young caregivers exist. Look for them, notice them.
- Once you know them, ask them the right questions. Actively listen, understand their needs and hopes for the future. Studies have found that the reaction and support young caregivers receive within their families and with other caring adults in their lives (like teachers & coaches!) can be hugely protective against many of the adverse outcomes. I’ve seen this in my own experience caring for my parents. While I did struggle with many of the issues outlined above, having a strong, supportive family and network of support in school, sports, and other areas of my life made a huge difference in my ability to navigate these challenging times. If you have young caregivers in your classroom or on your team, simply being a supportive, caring adult can go a long way to protecting kids from any adverse impacts of caregiving.
- Young caregivers are 40% more likely to drop out of school due to the demands they face in their role. Teachers, school nurses, social workers, coaches, and other professionals should assist young caregivers and their families in resource planning, parenting resources, raising awareness of caregivers, and providing professional resources for educators. When designing services that might help young caregivers in your school, be sure to include youth in the decision making process as this is absolutely integral to the successful implementation of any plan. In my own high school and college experience, I can tell you that the support and empathy I received from many of them did not go unnoticed. Simple things like extending deadlines or providing opportunities to get academic support during odd times made my educational experience not only more manageable, but more fulfilling for me as a student. It inspired me to continue my education through grad school, becoming a social worker so I could also advocate for the many barriers young people face in education, including our young caregiving population.
- Act on what you say. If you offer support or connection, be prepared to follow through.
- Encourage young caregivers to take care of themselves.
- Help build resilience for young caregivers.
- Advocate for policy and practice changes to address the “care gap”.
- Focus on support services that support caregiver development & social engagement.
I’m so glad to be sharing these tips for educators and other school professionals to support young caregivers. Building a community of support around our young people in general is so critical to their success. I encourage you to share this with an educator in your life – friends, family members, your own children’s teacher. I also encourage you to to share your own experiences and thoughts about how educators can support young caregivers in the comments!
REFERENCES:
Barber, C. (2013). Meeting the support needs of young caregivers. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants. 7(1), 16-20.
Bjorgvinsdottir K, Halldorsdottir S. Silent, invisible and unacknowledged: experiences of young caregivers of single parents diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Scand J Caring Sci. 2014 Mar;28(1):38-48. doi: 10.1111/scs.12030. Epub 2013 Mar 28. PMID: 23550661.
Levine, C., Hunt, G. G., Halper, D., Hart, A. Y., Lautz, J., & Gould, D. A. (2005). Young adult caregivers: a first look at an unstudied population. American journal of public health, 95(11), 2071–2075. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2005.067702
Li, L., & Lee, Y. (2020). Caregiving Choice and Caregiver-Receiver Relation: Effects on Psychological Well-being of Family Caregivers in Canada. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 39(4), 634-646. doi:10.1017/S0714980819000825
Sieh, D.S., Dikkers, A.L.C., Visser-Meily, J.M.A. et al. Stress in Adolescents with a Chronically Ill Parent: Inspiration from Rolland’s Family Systems-Illness Model. J Dev Phys Disabil 24, 591–606 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-012-9291-3
Wepf, H., Leu, A. Well-Being and Perceived Stress of Adolescent Young Carers: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study. J Child Fam Stud 31, 934–948 (2022).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02097-w
