Young carers in Canada : Jeunes aidants au Canada: les avantages et les coûts cachés des soins prodigués par les jeunes

Building awareness and developing supports and resources at the family and community levels, in schools and universities and colleges and in the workplace will help mitigate the potentially adverse consequences of caring on young carers and their families. [...] And whereas it is clear that young “normal” childhood caring can be positive and beneficial for the young care provider, it is equally clear that young and adolescent caring places young carers at risk of not finishing school or acquiring the skills, knowledge and experiences and social maturity necessary to thrive in both the short and long term. [...] Led by researchers and activists, the call to acknowledge, understand and better support young carers and their families in Canada found traction among academics, practitioners and advocates concerned with healthy child and family development, with the provision of caregiving supports and services, and with the well-being of Canadians living with illness and/or disability and their families. [...] Young Caring is Not Uncommon Despite the central importance of young carers to family and community well-being, the largely private and often hidden nature of their contributions makes it hard to identify the exact number of young carers in Canada. [...] For some, the cost comes in the young carer the form of a childhood lost to the demands of providing family care (Jurkovic, 1997; Noble-Carr, role, the higher the 2002).