Caring for family members with impairments and chronic illnesses. Young carers and young adult carers in asylum seeking and refugee families in the UK

Sammendrag

Research on disability and family care practices in families of refugee and asylum seekers are rare but suggest that due to poor support contexts, children and young adults may be drawn into providing significant care which negatively impacts on their lives (Evans 2011). This article discusses experiences of children and young adults in providing care to disabled parents who participated in a qualitative PhD study in the UK on experiences of disabled asylum seekers and refugees with disability and care. Children and young adults were found to face significant challenges in combining caring with their own needs, including their education, friendships and making transitions to adulthood. However, they held onto their aspirations despite the obstacles of caring, poverty and legal status. They ‘navigated their social becoming’ within their constraining socio-economic and legal contexts, both because of their caring responsibilities and prolonged periods of their families’ lack of entitlements and rights. The findings highlight the importance that research and policy engage with specific needs of children and young adults in caring roles in families of asylum seeking and refugee background living with impairments and chronic illness.