Support for young people who look after others
Young carers are people under age 18 who help to look after a parent, brother, sister or grandparent. They’re likely to help with shopping, cooking, cleaning and sometimes personal care, like getting dressed.
Young carers can get support in school to help them. For some, where their caring role has an impact on their health and wellbeing, they can be referred to the Carers Centre which provides information, advice and support.
Carer’s charter
The Carer’s charter was developed by the Scottish Government. It supports carers in Scotland to help improve their health and wellbeing so they can have a life alongside caring. It also requires Scottish councils to provide a local advice and information service for carers.
Young Carer Grant
The Young Carer Grant is a yearly cash payment of £300 for 16-18-year-old carers. Young carers can claim if they are at school, in further education, employed or unemployed and meet all the following criteria.
- live in Scotland
- are age 16, 17 or 18 when applying
- care for an average of 16 hours a week, over a 13-week period
- care for someone normally paid a qualifying disability benefit
- have not applied for or receive Carer’s Allowance
- are not paid, or volunteer to care
You can apply for a Young Carer Grant online at the mygov.scot website.