Ed Davey to meet with young carers as polling finds seven in ten think government doesn’t support them enough

EMBARGO: 22.30 Thursday 12th December

Seven in ten (70%) UK adults think that the government’s support for young carers is not enough, new polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

It comes as Ed Davey is set to visit the South West today (13th December) where he will meet with a group of young carers. The Liberal Democrat Leader said the polling showed that the public “recognise the tremendous challenges that young carers face” and that it was time to give them the extra support they deserve. 

Ed Davey recently launched a bid to reach the Christmas Number One alongside the Bath Philharmonia Young Carers’ Choir. Their song ‘Love is Enough’, which was written by young carers, reached Number 28 in the singles download chart last week, with all proceeds going to the Carers Trust and Bath Philharmonia. The successful Christmas Number One is set to be announced next week on 20th December. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a Young Carers Pupil Premium to be introduced as part of an ‘Education Guarantee’ for young carers and for the Carer’s Allowance to be extended to those in full-time education.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“When I cared for my mum as a teenager I experienced first hand how rewarding caring for a loved one can be, but also the incredible difficulties that young carers go through.

“It is clear that the public also recognise the tremendous challenges facing young carers who have been neglected by successive governments for far too long.

“This Christmas I hope our song Love is Enough can help to shine a spotlight on young carers who do such an amazing job looking after their loved ones. Far too often young carers feel overlooked and ignored - it’s time to finally get them the extra support they deserve.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The polling by Savanta can be found here.

Methodology: Savanta interviewed 2,338 UK adults aged 18+ online between 6th and 8th December 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.

The single ‘Love is Enough’ is available to download from iTunes and other platforms here, with all proceeds going to Carers Trust and Bath Philharmonia: https://slinky.to/LoveIsEnough.