More than nine million people in France help an elderly, disabled or sick loved one. A heavy load which sometimes has negative impacts on their professional and academic life but also their physical and mental health. Among these caregivers, 500,000 young people are under 18 years old.
Every evening after school, Isaline hurries on to return to the family home located a few minutes away. In the living room, the teenager finds Aurélie, her mother, curled up in her heavy electric wheelchair. “She’s a wonderful person!”, says the young girl. Looks, tender gestures and always the same question: “Is there anything you need, Mom?”
>> TESTIMONIALS. “We no longer have a social life”: these “helping parents” talk about their exhaustion in the face of the crisis in the home help sector
Isaline is a young caregiver for her mother, who is severely disabled following a blood clot in the brain. His father left their home last year. Of the nine million caregivers in France who look after a sick or elderly loved one, 500,000 are young people under 18. So for National Carers’ Day, which takes place on October 6, the government is launching a series of measures to support these millions of French people who take care of others, sometimes to the detriment of themselves.
Because the load weighing on their shoulders is significant. To take over from Isaline to her mother, caregivers come to bathe, prepare the midday meal, do a little cleaning and take care of bedtime, but Isaline does the rest: “Doing shopping and eating for the evening, because it is not possible to have someone take care of that, I accompany her to the toilet when she needs, and also we must avoid going out too much”she lists.
“I feel out of step”
The well-being of her mother, whom she has always known to be disabled, comes first. “For me, the most difficult thing is to organize myself between school and after classes”she explains. “When we make a list of things to do, many – even me – just want to rest, sit down, and do what we want. For example homework: we postpone it until later, then later again, and sometimes we forget to do them.”
At 13, Isaline feels a little out of step with young people her age and her classmates. “It gives you responsibility and therefore you feel more mature”she elaborates. “But I feel like I don’t know certain topics: for example, my friends talk to me about influencers on social media, and I don’t know them, so I feel out of step.”
“You can quickly feel alone as a young carer. In truth, I have very few friends, because we forget to think about our social life. But what I think should be improved is to have the opportunity to take some rest!”
Isaline, 13-year-old caregiverat franceinfo
A moment to breathe is one of the measures taken by the government: Aurore Bergé, the Minister of Solidarity and Families, announces that a respite of 15 days per year will be possible for each caregiver with optimal care of the accompanied person.
Schoolgirl and caregiver: Isaline’s testimony, collected by Sandrine Etoa-Andegue