Many children, adolescents, teenagers, and young adults have caring responsibilities for parents and family members. These young carers and young adult carers are present in every country. Their responsibilities include domestic chores as well as intimate personal care and other forms of helping which are generally seen as the responsibility of adult professionals. First, this article provides an overview and critical perspective on young carers research. Research suggests that 2-8% of children and young people are carers and that the caring role has an impact on their education, health, wellbeing, social opportunities and employment prospects. Various countries have responded differently with regards to policy: some have well developed services and recognition in law whilst others are only just beginning to recognise the problem. Second, we discuss the issues and challenges for research and propose a new agenda for the development of policy, research rigour, more theoretical sophistication, and a greater awareness of the need for interdisciplinary and multiagency working. Furthermore, we call for participatory and action led research that can provide greater insights into the lived experiences of young people, their needs and how these can be met.

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Community gardens vary enormously in what they offer, according to local needs and circumstance.This article reports on research and experience from the USA. The context in which these findings are discussed is the implementation of Local Agenda  and sustainable development policies. In particular, emphasis is given to exploring the social dimension of sustainable development policies by linking issues of health, education, community development and food security with the use of green space in towns and cities. The article concludes that the use of urban open spaces for parks and gardens is closely associated with environmental justice and equity.

Background: Many young people are involved in caring for parents, siblings, or other relatives who have an illness or disability. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of caring by young people in England.Method: A national survey of 925 English young people was conducted using the 18-item survey version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Caring ActivitiesChecklist for Young Carers.Results: Around 7% of young people were identified as doing at least a high amount of caring activity and 3% a very high amount. Most frequently, caring by a young person is for a mother or a sibling, with a physical disability. Caring activity consisted mostly of domestic activities, household management, and emotional care.Conclusion: This study provides the most up to date and methodologically sophisticated survey data on the prevalence of young caring in England, with implications for policy and practice.

Research has shown that young people who care for parents and relatives (young carers and young adult carers) are at greater risk of mental and emotional difficulties and are more likely to do badly at school or college. To explore the difficulties faced by young adult carers (aged 14–25) in the UK, an online survey was conducted. Almost half (45%) of the 295 respondents reported having a mental health problem. The relationship between the extent of caring and perceived mental health problems and the impact of caring responsibilities on work and education were investigated.

An online survey of children in school grades 4–9 (mostly aged 10–15) was conducted in order to determine the prevalence of young carers in Switzerland using a 2‐stage stratified sampling approach. 4082 respondents were drawn from 230 schools. A total of 3991 respondents were included in the analysis and of these 307 (7.7%) were identified as young carers. The population estimate of prevalence was 7.9 per cent. This suggests that there are around 38 400 young carers in school grades 4–9 in Switzerland. Extrapolating to the 9–16 age group gives a figure of almost 51 500.

Abstract.Emotional and behavioural difficulties of a sample of children and young people were identified at the point of entry to local authority care by analysis of social work case files. The files indicated high levels of need, including that in children aged under five.Bedwetting was identified as an important issue related to the physical health and emotional well-being of looked after children. There was an association between bedwetting and emotional and behavioural problems.Analysis of placement types at entry to care showed that significantly more boys than girls were first placed in residential care.

This article discusses the role that gardening, horticulture and farming can play in promoting mental well-being and in supporting the recovery of individuals with mental health problems.