Earlier this year Healthwatch North Tyneside surveyed young carers and asked how their lives have changed in the last year and what issues are affecting them.

Healthwatch North Tyneside is the independent voice for residents using local health and social care services.

Healthwatch are a partner of the North Tyneside Carers Partnership Board and conducted the survey on behalf of the Board.

The survey is similar to their 2022 survey and allows comparisons, giving a window to see if any progress has been made. They discovered:

• 92% of the young carers in the survey are caring for a parent/guardian or a sibling or both. This shows that caring responsibilities are mainly within immediate close family. (54% of respondents  were caring for a sibling.)
• 68% of the carers are caring for 1 person, 25% for two (often a parent and a sibling) and 8% of the people said  they are caring for 3 or more people.
• In terms of the conditions the people needing care have, the most common responses were:
  • Mental health – mainly of parent/guardian, but also of sibling
  • Neurodivergence – mainly in siblings
  • Physical impairment or mobility – mainly in adults (parent/guardians or grandparents)
  • Learning disability – mainly in siblings and often linked to neurodivergence.

To find out more go to Healthwatch North Tyneside’s website and read the full report.