Young Carers Action Day 2024

That the Parliament acknowledges that 13 March 2024 marks Young Carers Action Day; welcomes the annual campaign initiative, led by Carers Trust, which is encouraging as many organisations, communities and individuals as possible to take part in the day by taking action, supporting and raising awareness of young carers; recognises the 2024 theme, "Fair Futures for Young Carers", which will focus on building a more equal future for young carers and removing barriers that, it understands, many of their peers do not face; commends what it considers to be the immense contribution that young carers make to society by caring for their family or friends who are ill, frail, disabled or have mental health or addiction problems; believes that caring for someone should not be a barrier to having an equal opportunity in learning, earning or being able to participate and get on in life; understands that young carers’ lives can be made even more challenging by education and employment systems that fail to identify them, understand the diversity of their caring roles, or respond to their support needs; further understands that Carers Trust research found that more than half (59%) of young carers in Scotland care for more than 20 hours each week, with 12% spending 50 hours or more providing unpaid care every week; welcomes the launch of the first ever UK-wide Covenant for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers, which, it believes, has been shaped by the views of more than 500 young carers and is being led by Carers Trust; acknowledges that the Covenant for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers is based on the draft Commonwealth Charter for Young Carers, and is a UK-wide commitment to young carers, which sets out outcomes that signatories aspire to deliver for all young carers; believes that young carers want lasting, meaningful change to take place to ensure that young carers now, and in the future, remain at the forefront of policy development and have access to the support that, it considers, they are entitled to and deserve; further believes that young carers across Scotland must have a fair chance to prosper in all aspects of their lives so that they can achieve their full potential and secure a fair future, and wishes all those involved in this year’s #YoungCarersActionDay the very best of luck in their endeavours.