Around 244,000 people under 19 years old are caring for relatives in England and Wales
Roughly 23,000 of these carers are under nine years old and 149,000 are aged between 15 and 19 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The burden of providing 50 hours or more unpaid care per week has the greatest impact on the health of young carers in the age group 0 to 24, with males being 2.4 times more likely to have 'not good' health compared with those providing no unpaid care and females being 2.7 times more likely.
For more information see www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=22958 and www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22529237