Paving the way for future: online the first research in the area of young carers and entrepreneurship
MAKING IT HAPPEN FOR EUROPE: The Care 2 Entrepreneurship consortium is pleased to launch its research to bring together all the findings, pilots and learning from the project.
Specifically, the eBook integrates the theoretical and practical results of the training programme for young carers and professionals from each participating country. It also includes policy recommendations and best practices for those professionals serving young people.
Project partners from different disciplines and sectors, and operating in very different national contexts, have designed an innovative model for raising awareness of and promoting social entrepreneurship among Young Carers.
Despite the lack of research or specific figures on the number of Young Carers in Europe, the phenomenon is raising attention in many countries. A proportion of young people across Europe carry out a significant role in caring for their family member who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol, but their experiences and needs are not explicitly recognised in social and family policies. Beyond this, Young Carers are often hidden, forgotten or ignored by policy makers and service providers at national and local levels.
Our research has found that Young Carers face additional barriers to education and training. Due to the limitations connected to their role, many young people are not developing the skills they need for a successful future and employment.
Considering these factors, the Care 2 Entrepreneurship Programme believes entrepreneurship represents a viable option for overcoming these hurdles, and can assist Young Carers in accomplishing several goals, such as increasing self-worth, developing transferable skills and overcoming obstacles in entering the labour market.
“Many of the skills and virtues useful for social entrepreneurs are naturally developed while caring for a loved one, for example self-esteem, self-confidence, adaptability, creativity, ability to relate with other people, ability to recognise needs and to think about possible solutions, and social responsibility. All these skills are vital in pursuing entrepreneurship, and could unleash a new generation of compassionate and innovative entrepreneurs.
“If the Coronavirus has shown us anything it’s that the caring sector has been hit very hard; while on the other hand the problem of youth unemployment has been exacerbated– making the need for this kind of intervention and skills training more needed than ever.
Download the eBooks
C2E: MAKING IT HAPPEN FOR EUROPE (executive summaries)
https://www.c2eproject.org/download/500/
Full Report C2E: MAKING IT HAPPEN FOR EUROPE (executive summaries and national chapters in English, Romanian, Italian, Greek and French)
https://www.c2eproject.org/download/497/
Note to editors:
About the project
C2E as a youth-led, transnational project that will develop, test and implement innovative practices in a much-neglected area in the field of youth support.
Responding to the priorities of the Lisbon agenda and the Europe 2020 strategy treating entrepreneurship as a key component of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, C2E targets young carers aged 18-30 with particular focus on women from low-income families. It adopts a youth-led methodology which will construct and implement evidence-based, well-tested and replicable educational and training curricula to develop young carers’ practical, creative and entrepreneurial skills to enable them to become confident and successful young entrepreneurs.
Young carers are defined for the purposes of this project as, “children and young persons under 18 who provide or intend to provide care, assistance or support to another family member. They carry out significant or substantial caring tasks, often on a regular basis, and assume a level of responsibility that would usually be associated with an adult”.
THE PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR
The IARS International Institute is user-led and user-focused charity with a mission to give everyone a chance to forge a safer, fairer and more inclusive society.
We are focused on empowering the most marginalised communities through direct service delivery, while enabling organizations to achieve, measure and improve their social impact. IARS is an international expert in criminal justice, restorative justice, human rights and inclusion citizenship, public service and user led research. www.iars.org.uk
The Project
To find out more about C2E – Care to Entrepreneurship Project follow the link www.c2eproject.org or contact Dr. Claire Bonham: c.bonham@iars.org.uk
C2E – Care to Entrepreneurship Project is co-founded by the European Commission under the agreement 2017-3-UK01-KA205-046402
This publication related to the Project made by the beneficiaries jointly or individually in any form and using any means, shall indicate that it reflects only the author’s view and that the National Agency and the European Commission are not responsible
