Young adult carers are on the brink of homelessness, experts warn

A new report highlights that unless the housing needs of unpaid carers aged between 16-25 are urgently met, they are at-risk of sleeping on the streets.

Produced by independent research organisation, Learning and Work Institute (LWI), the new report, which was published this week, has found more than a quarter of a million unpaid carers require urgent government support, with impacts to housing, education, employment, and wellbeing.

The research follows the conclusion of Move On Up, a six-year pilot housing project between the two charities Quaker Social Action and Commonweal Housing, who also funded the new report. The project was designed to address the overlooked housing needs of carers aged 18-25, who face significant challenges while caring for family members in their own home.

Participants involved in the programme struggled with mental and physical exhaustion, the lack of access to education and employment opportunities, along with other pressures often faced by young people as they progress into adulthood.

One severe example of this is a boy named Ciaran (not his real name) who cared for his mother who struggled with her mental health and his sibling who suffers with a disability. Ciaran’s mother was often abusive towards him which caused him to move out but, he became homeless for a while. However, Ciaran was eventually housed in a hostel and referred to Move On Up by a youth charity.

The severity of Ciaran’s situation displays the dire need to provide support for young unpaid carers. Data from the 2021 census shows there are over 272,000 young adult carers providing £3.5bn of unpaid care per year, however experts suggest this is lower than reality as various young people do not recognise themselves as a carer.

This is worsened by the absence of housing in the requirements for Carers Assessments, the assessments that are required to be undertaken by local authorities under the Care Act 2014. This has led to a lack of awareness among practitioners of a young adult carers’ housing needs, leaving them unmet and contributing to youth homelessness.

Ashley Horsey, Chief Executive at Commonweal Housing, said, ‘For too long, young adult carers have been the forgotten cohort of carers, going under the policy radar and left without the state support they desperately need, despite the billions in unpaid care they provide.

‘Multiple converging crises are leaving these young vulnerable people on the brink, and without housing support and joined-up government action, homelessness could become a genuine reality for a generation of young adult carers.

‘We thank Nicola Aylward and Learning and Work Institute for this vital inspection of the injustices that young adult carers face and the role that government, local authorities, care and young people’s services, and housing providers must now play in ensuring that housing sits at the root of the support offer to young adult carers. A quarter of a million young people depend on it.’

Image: Nick Fewings