Caring alone: Why Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young carers continue to struggle to access support

Type Policy and research document

Author
Emma James
Published on
1 April 2019

This briefing looks at Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) young carers and their specific and unique needs. BAME young carers have long been recognised as particularly vulnerable. The term BAME is inclusive of those who may have vastly different issues and vulnerabilities including within their own communities. However, much of our research is focused on issues within Asian communities, predominantly South Asian, as that is the highest BAME demographic within our young carers’ services.  Therefore, in this report the term BAME relates mostly to South Asian families.

Many organisations over the last ten years have looked at how support is offered to BAME communities, why BAME young carers often have additional issues to deal with such as stigma and what impact cultural differences have. As part of our research into the needs and vulnerabilities of BAME young carers, we examined existing reports and information in addition to conducting interviews with Barnardo’s young carer practitioners from our services across England. We also undertook a short survey with our services to identify the key issues faced by young carers from BAME communities in accessing support services and to gain insight into what measures can be adopted to ensure that BAME young carers have better access to support.

Keywords: Young carers