The youngest carers are the hardest to see.
Research, resources and training on young carers in early childhood, for the practitioners, services and policy makers best placed to notice them.
Research has looked past the youngest carers.
Research on young carers has largely focused on children and young people aged 8 to 25.
Ellicott et al. (2024), Young Carers in the UK, Routledge Handbook of Child and Family Social Work Research
As a result, young carers remain under-identified and under-supported, and early identification remains low.
Ellicott et al. (2024), Routledge chapter abstract
127 young carers recorded in school nursery classes and below in the 2026 school census, and a further 847 in reception
Pupils in state-funded schools in England only. Private and voluntary nurseries and childminders are not in the census.
Department for Education, Schools, pupils and their characteristics 2025/26 (published 4 June 2026)
7,389 children aged 5 to 7 identified as providing unpaid care in the 2021 Census; 1,746 of them for 50 or more hours a week
Figures as reported by the APPG for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers from the 2021 Census.
The law sets no lower age for a young carer.
A young carer is “a person under 18 who provides or intends to provide care for another person”.
Yet several local authorities define young carers as having a minimum age of 8.
APPG for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers (November 2023), p.19
What the research asks
Voice narratives of young carers in early childhood in the UK.
- What factors influence dominant representations of young carers in early childhood within the broader scope of young carer research?
- What are the barriers faced by young carers in early childhood and their families to accessing assessment and support?
- What is life like for young carers in early childhood living in the UK?
What the research is finding
The youngest carers are missing from the evidence.
A scoping review searched research published from 2014 to 2024 and found no studies of young carers aged 0 to 5 that met its criteria. Their voices and experiences are absent from the literature.
For practice
Further research is needed to better inform whole family support in young carer policy and practice.
Young Carers in Early Childhood: How Are Young Carers Represented in Broader Literature and What Factors Influence Dominant Representations of Young Carers in Early Childhood in the UK? Read the paper (Young Carers in Early Childhood: How Are Young Carers Represented in Broader Literature and What Factors Influence Dominant Representations of Young Carers in Early Childhood in the UK?)
Professionals call them “the elephant in the room”.
Focus groups with 24 professionals across the UK, recruited through the Carers Trust Young Carers Alliance, found that legal, ideological and economic power shapes who society expects young carers to be, and leaves frontline services disempowered.
For practice
The study recommends reviewing statutory needs assessments for young carers in England, and aligning early childhood and young carer policy so young carers’ rights are embedded from early childhood.
Supporting Young Carers in Early Childhood: Mapping Power, Threat, Meaning, and Strengths: A PTMF-Informed Qualitative Study. Read the paper (Supporting Young Carers in Early Childhood: Mapping Power, Threat, Meaning, and Strengths: A PTMF-Informed Qualitative Study)
Chances to identify them early are being missed.
Drawing on the experiences of three families, including two each with a young carer aged four, the study found systemic and structural powers in the lives of young carers in early childhood.
For practice
Opportunities to prevent inappropriate caring roles, and for early identification and intervention, have been missed.
Young Carers in Early Childhood: Exploring Experience with the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Read the paper (Young Carers in Early Childhood: Exploring Experience with the Power Threat Meaning Framework)
Recognising young carers in the early years
Early years practitioners are “uniquely placed to notice when caring responsibilities begin to shape a child’s everyday life”
Young children may not have the language to describe their experiences.
Caring can show instead in play, in daily routines, in attachment, and in how closely a child tunes in to other people’s feelings.
Relying on what a child says, on their age, or on a count of visible care tasks can miss it.
Visual and creative approaches, such as drawing and storytelling, let young children show what caring means to them.
When young carers in early childhood aren’t identified, their legal right to a needs assessment, referrals to specialist services and formal support all become harder to reach.
What the law says
When a young carer needs outside support, the local authority must carry out a young carer’s needs assessment under section 17ZA of the Children Act 1989.
Resources to use
To share with children
Picture book (free PDF)
Young Carers in Space
Young Carers Illustrations
A story about a six-year-old young carer called Honey, co-produced with young carers.
Film, CBeebies Bedtime Stories (25 May 2026)
Natalie Cassidy reads Young Carers in Space
BBC CBeebies, on YouTube
The book read aloud, to share with children.
Picture book (free PDF)
Young Carers in Bunnyland
Young Carers Illustrations
The first Honey book: a gentle way to explain who young carers are.
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For your practice
Guide (PDF, February 2026)
Resources for Key Stage One and Nursery Classes
Young Carers Illustrations
Activity booklets and story cards for conversations with children aged 8 or under.
Report (November 2024)
Our Youngest Young Carers: Communicating with Pictures
Carers Trust
How pictures can help the youngest carers communicate.
Report (November 2025)
Born to Care
MYTIME Young Carers
A report focused on young carers under five.
Guidance (reviewed March 2024)
Being a young carer: your rights
NHS
Plain guidance on young carers’ rights and support.
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Publications
All publicationsSupporting Young Carers in Early Childhood: Mapping Power, Threat, Meaning, and Strengths: A PTMF-Informed Qualitative Study
Ellicott, C., Bidaran, A., Dewsbery, F., Norman, A., & Lloyd, H.
Healthcare, 14(2), 213
Young Carers in Early Childhood: Exploring Experience with the Power Threat Meaning Framework
Ellicott, C., Norman, A., Lloyd, H., Dewsbery, F., Jones, S., & Jones, S.
Family Sciences, 1(2), 8
Young Carers in Early Childhood: How Are Young Carers Represented in Broader Literature and What Factors Influence Dominant Representations of Young Carers in Early Childhood in the UK?
Ellicott, C., Norman, A., & Lloyd, H.
Healthcare, 13(3), 280
Play, Love and Nurture (Chapter 11)
Ellicott, C.
Play Matters, Early Years Reviews
From Carly: the chapter's editor and link
Young Carers in the UK
Ellicott, C., et al.
The Routledge Handbook of Child and Family Social Work Research, pp. 645-658
From Carly: co-authors, editors and publisher
Voicing experiences of family members providing care to loved ones with a Pituitary condition
Ellicott, C., Norman, A., & Jackson, S.
The Family Journal
Talks and training
Invite Carly to speakOctober 2026
International Young Carers Conference, Berlin
Sharing the Young Carers in Early Childhood research
July 2026
NHS England, Unpaid Carers Lunch and Learn webinar
Young Carers in Space, with Ana Graça and John Bangs
July 2026
Early Years Inspections Digital Conference (Westminster Insight and Early Years Alliance)
Insights from the research
June 2026
Cygnet Health, Carers Week
Carers leads and networking events
From Carly: talk dates and titles to confirm
Carly Ellicott
- PhD researcher, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth
- Research Assistant, Early Education
Carly has worked with young children and their families since 1998, as an early years practitioner, lecturer, Ofsted early years inspector and the coordinator of a county-wide young carers service. Her PhD at the University of Plymouth gives a voice to young carers in early childhood.
Get in touch
From Carly: how people should get in touch
From Carly: your portrait