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Children as Caregivers

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Handbook of Child Well-Being

Abstract

Caregiving is usually associated with adults’ responsibilities. Official statistics and research have demonstrated, however, that many children and young people in the global North and South have substantial, regular caring responsibilities for family members with chronic illnesses, impairments, or other care needs. This chapter conceptualizes children’s roles as “caregivers” and the care work they do. It then analyzes the available evidence on outcomes of children’s caregiving and the factors and processes influencing their involvement. While research reveals that caregiving may have positive as well as negative outcomes for children’s well-being, formal and informal safety nets are needed, especially in resource-limited settings, to alleviate children’s care work. Children’s and families’ experiences suggest that social protection measures and support for those being cared for as well as those providing care would help to ensure that caregiving does not have long-term negative impacts on children’s personal development, education, health, family relations, peer interactions, social participation, employment opportunities, and socially expected transitions to adulthood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, 227, Reading, UK

    Dr. Ruth Evans (Lecturer in Human Geography)

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  1. Dr. Ruth Evans
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Correspondence to Ruth Evans .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Asher Ben-Arieh

  2. Research Institute of Quality of Life, University of Girona, Girona, Spain

    Ferran Casas

  3. Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Ivar Frønes

  4. Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Jill E. Korbin

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Evans, R. (2014). Children as Caregivers. In: Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I., Korbin, J. (eds) Handbook of Child Well-Being. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_173

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_173

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

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