Young Carer Grant - interim evaluation: qualitative research (Annex A)

Annex A: Pen portraits

The following pen portraits of three young carers are designed to provide a richer picture of some young carers' lives and their experiences of Young Carer Grant. They have been selected to show a range of different impacts and should not be seen as representative. Names and some personal details have been amended to ensure anonymity.

Ella's experience of Young Carer Grant

Ella is 18 and lives with her mother and her younger brother. She is a registered carer for her brother who has autism and dyslexia. In her free time she likes to socialise with friends and family and go to the gym.

When her mother is at work, Ella takes on full responsibility for looking after her brother as he can't be left alone for long. Ella helps her brother with everyday tasks, makes him dinner, helps with his school work and helps to calm him down when he gets anxious or angry.

At the same time, Ella is studying at university. At the moment, classes are online which helps her to fit it around her caring role, although sometimes she has to catch up late at night. She also works shifts a few times a week at a shop.

Juggling so many responsibliites can take a toll on Ella's mental health, and sometimes she feels 'pushed to the side' because her parents need to focus more on her brother. Being a young carer can feel lonely, although joining a young carers' group has helped with that. It was a worker at the group who told her about Young Carer Grant and encouraged her to apply.

Initially, Ella had some reservations about applying for Young Carer Grant because she was happy to look after her brother and didn't want to make him feel "as though he was a charity".

"I don't really want to be [my brother's] young carer, I want to be his sister. I don't think he would want that either."

However, Ella was persuaded to apply because the support worker explained that it was not a payment, and she deserved it.

Ella applied for Young Carer Grant in early 2020 and found the application process easy and straightforward. She put the money into a savings account so that she would have an emergency fund to use in case she needed it. This gave her "peace of mind" and made her feel more in control of her financial situation. It also made her feel more recognised and appreciated as a young carer.

"[Young Carer Grant] made me feel a lot more financially stable, self-dependent and self-sufficient […] it's just that idea that if I do need it it's gonna be there, so it's like security."

Toby's experience of Young Carer Grant

Toby is 16 and lives with his mother and his younger sister. He cares for his mother who has fybromyalgia and needs help with personal care such as getting dressed, as well as needing extra help with housework and shopping. When he gets some free time, he likes to draw or play video games, although his caring role is a "full time resonsibility".

"It's not just I'm gonna get up and do this today, it's I need to get up and do this today."

The most difficult part of being a young carer for Toby is seeing his mother struggle with her illness which can make him feel bad, and he worries about his mother if she has to be left on her own. Another difficulty is being unable to drive and help out his mum by driving to pick things up, like her medication.

His school is understanding, but he mainly gets support from his local young carers' group which is where he first heard about the grant. A member of staff offered to complete the online application form with him, as he found the idea of applying himself a bit intimidating. This was mainly because he has some difficulty with reading and writing – he didn't have any problems finding the evidence he needed.

Toby understood that he could use the money from the grant however he liked. He spent around a third of the money on drawing equipment and videogames, and put the rest towards his savings for driving lessons.

Being able to spend money on his hobbies made him feel better as it provided a distraction from the COVID-19 pandemic. If he hadn't received the grant, he would have had to be more careful with his money and probably wouldn't have done this.

The main benefit of Young Carer Grant for Toby was the feeling of being recognised for his caring role, because he doesn't think young carers are recognised to the extent that they should be – he was caring for three years before realising that he was a young carer.

"It gave me like a…oh we've noticed that you've been doing this…a reward."

The grant will also help him achieve his goal of learning to drive, which will enable him to do more for his mother.

Sofia's experience of Young Carer Grant

Sofia is 17 and lives with her parents and her younger sisters. Since she was around 8, she has been helping her parents look after her sisters who both have autism. When she has time, she likes to go for walks to give herself some space, listen to music and hang out with her friends but

"… other teenagers have freedom – lack of freedom is a big thing for me, because I always have responsibilities, time boundaries."

She usually gets up at 6.30 to get herself ready for school before helping get her sisters washed and dressed and giving them breakfast. She leaves school a little early so that she is back home when her sisters get home (her parents are still at work). She gets them changed, helps her mum feed them, then washes and irons their clothes because they tend to make a mess of their clothes every day.

When Sofia first heard about the grant she thought "Oh wow! What a great opportunity, it's a huge amount of money. It was a really good thing to my ears." She found the application process "fairly easy" and just needed a little help from her mum to answer some questions about her sisters.

She is very organised and careful with money so when she received the grant she put most of it into her savings (for a house and for driving lessons), gave 10-15% to charity (which she explained as "Muslim requirement"), and put the remaining £40 into her day-to-day account whch she uses for family food and her own clothes and make-up. She says it had a very positive impact:

"when I'm able to buy the things I want, like clothes, it can make me feel good about myself. It's a distraction from all the problems, you feel more secure that you're able to pay for your own things." She added that she "felt good being able to provide for my family".

In the absence of the grant, she would have had to rely on money from her Education Maintenance Allowance and from her parents.

Her only concern about the grant is that

"people who aren't recognised as young carers, who aren't in the system wouldn't get it. Loads of parents don't speak up if child is a young carer, especially Asian parents as there is a stigma […] So Asian kids don't speak up in case the parent says 'you think I'm a burden' – some Asian parents like to guilt trip you".