180,000 Unpaid Child Carers in Britain

Figures revealed by the England and Wales census 2011 state that there are as many as 180,000 unpaid child carers in Britain.

 Around 10,000 five to seven-year-old kids work as carers for their relatives and over 1,600 of these children take care of their relatives for as much as 50 hours a week.

These statistics show that there has been an increase of 80 percent child carers in the last decade.

There has been an increase of nearly 20 percent of children of all ages "missing out on their childhoods" to work as unpaid carers, says the report. Around 20 percent (180,000 children) miss out on their childhood due to looking after their relatives.

Losing out on social lives has a deep impact on children's health and education. The census reported that the health of over 2,000 young children is "bad" or "very bad" and for nearly 10,000 kids it was just "fair."

"Caring can cost children dearly. They are missing out on their childhoods and school, gaining fewer qualifications and job opportunities and therefore are less likely to earn a decent living in the future. We are calling for support for these children and their families to prevent them from caring in the first place. All children must be allowed to thrive and enjoy their childhoods," said Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children's Society.

According to a separate study conducted by Children's Society, one in 20 child carers fails to attend school just to take care of their relatives. It also found that these young carers have one-and-a-half times more chances of getting long-term illnesses, disability or special educational needs compared to other children.

The educational skills at GCSE level of these young carers are much lower - equivalent to nine grades lower overall than their peers.  "We know young carers need more help and we are supporting local authorities to do much more for these dedicated young people. We recently announced that young carers will be involved in the training of school nurses, so they know exactly what support they should offer,"  said a Department for Education spokeswoman.

Sharon Hodgson MP, Labour's shadow children's minister, stressed on the need to support these young carers to help with their responsibilities.