For today’s Young Carers Action Day, young carers have chosen the theme of ‘protecting young carers’ futures’.  This year they are campaigning to highlight the incredible skills they have developed through being a carer, and want employers to be more aware of the added benefits they can bring to a range of job roles.

According to the Carers Trust, there are over one million young people in the UK coping with the daily pressures of caring for a family member who cannot look after themselves. Through taking on these responsibilities, young carers are developing invaluable skills that often put them head and shoulders above their contemporaries when it comes to the job market.  Skills such as resilience, time-management and empathy are highly sought after by employers and should also be on the radar of organisations employing people within the voluntary sector.

Hear from three young people highlighting the incredible skills they have developed through being carers:

To support young carers campaigning today, the Carers Trust has developed three key steps employers can take to make their workplaces suitable for young carers as they move into the working world:

1. Increase visibility: by normalising conversations around caring, and encouraging employees to share their own caring journey. Industry role models can inspire young carers and showcase different pathways that led them to their career.
2. Increase recognition: by acknowledging and recognising the skills that young adult carers can bring to the workplace.
3. Increase opportunities: by offering opportunities to help young carers start their career journey, building aspirations and skills and improving pathways to employment. This could be through updating existing programmes to become more inclusive for carers, or through tailored activities and programmes for young carers (e.g., career insights days, skills workshops).

According to the Carer’s Trust says ‘Taking these steps not only helps us create brighter futures for young people with caring responsibilities. It will also widen your talent pool, giving you greater access to young people willing to develop the skills they have already learned as young carers and put them to practice in your business or organisation’.

Across the UK companies are waking up to the fact that employing young carers can be a mutually beneficial move.  Read how nationwide florist Bloom and Wild has got involved here.

So let’s support young carers today by reinforcing the Carers Trust campaign on twitter and facebook – as they call on decision-makers to develop new national action plans for children and young people with caring responsibilities (which must address education, employability and health and wellbeing).

 And let’s all give some thought as to how we can tap into this untapped potential in our own voluntary sector organisations….