Caring at a young age can have a big impact on young carers, and can affect all parts of their lives, eg. school life, social life, and family life. It can also affect how young carers feel about themselves. The impact of caring depends very much on each individual situation. For instance, a young carer struggling alone to carry out tasks greater than would be normally expected of a young person can go on to experience difficult physical and emotional issues.

However, a young carer helping with the care of a family member may also gain strength and self-esteem from the experience. Young carers often develop strong family bonds and become more sensitive to the difficulties other people go through. And it's not just the caring that can be challenging. There are other things like feeling isolated and sometimes not having enough money in the family.