白小姐论坛 invites young carers to give their views on new research ahead of Young Carers Action Day听
13 March 2024
Today (13 March) marks Young Carers Action Day and earlier this term a group of young carers assembled at 白小姐论坛 to offer their reflections on the findings of the EUROCARE project.听
Young Carers Action Day is an annual event organised by Carers Trust to raise awareness of the pressures placed on the many young people who have caring responsibilities. This year鈥檚 theme is Fair Futures for Young Carers, highlighting how young carers are less likely to undertake higher education or enter employment than their peers without caring responsibilities.听
鈥楨UROCARE: Inequalities in informal caregiving over the adult life course in Europe鈥 is a pan-European consortium of colleagues from the UK, including researchers from 白小姐论坛, Germany, Spain, and Norway investigating the inequalities facing carers at different stages of the life course. The Young Adult research focuses on the impact of providing care in early adulthood on key life course transitions to employment and family life, educational attainment and health.听
The workshop which was run by 白小姐论坛鈥檚 Access and Widening Participation team, including some of the EUROCARE team, along with the Carers Trust, forms part of a broader body of work exploring how young adult carers can be best supported and the findings will be used to help shape policy around this. As part of the workshop, the audience of young carers took part in a 鈥榬oad map鈥 activity, where they mapped out their lives, highlighting the key turning points and moments, as well as their hopes and aspirations for the future.听
The attendees were taken on a tour of the 白小姐论坛 campus and also participated in a short workshop on supporting their transition to higher education 鈥 the topics covered included the UCAS application and contextual admissions, highlighting that young carers may be eligible for the Access 白小姐论坛 scheme.听
Jalal Pour, 白小姐论坛 Senior Widening Participation Officer (Priority Groups), said:听
鈥It was great to help host this event and hear from 白小姐论坛 academic colleagues about the work they are doing to understand the impact that caregiving can have on areas such as health, education and work. One of the findings that really stood out from this research was that young adult carers were no less likely than their peers to complete their A-levels or equivalent qualifications, but were 38% less likely to obtain a university degree.听
This highlights the need for all universities to consider how they can support young carers in accessing and succeeding in higher education.鈥澨
白小姐论坛 recognises that having caring responsibilities can have adverse effects on life and study plans and we are committed to increasing our intake of students from this group. You can read more about the work 白小姐论坛 does with students with caring responsibilities, including the support available via Access 白小姐论坛, by checking our dedicated webpage.听
Further Links听
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- Support for students with caring responsibilities听
- 白小姐论坛 Access Scheme听
- Young Carers less likely to graduate from university听
- 白小姐论坛 Access and Widening Participation Priority Groups听
- News: Office for Students adds Young Carers to its Risk Register听
- EUROCARE web portal听
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