The sun rose as Miyoko woke her younger sisters up and quickly prepared to go to school. After school, Miyoko picked up her sisters from daycare and took them to a nearby park. Once they arrived home, Miyoko helped her siblings take a bath, fed them, and put them to bed, causing her to stay up late. While facing trouble sleeping, she woke up the next day to repeat this routine. This was a usual day for Miyoko Ooba, author of 『ヤングケアラーの歩き方』, “The Path of a Young Carer” when she was in junior school as a young carer.
According to the Japan Carer Federation, young carers are children who are “under the age of 18 who take on caregiving responsibilities normally under an adult’s hands. These include housework, nursing care, and the emotional support of a family member.” Young carers exist globally — Japan, however, faces this issue seriously. There are an estimated number of 55,000 second-year junior high school students who are young carers, and the majority spend an average of four hours a day caregiving, according to Asahi Shimbun. According to the Nippon Foundation, young carers start caregiving at an average of 9.9 years old, handling care roles that even adults find difficult. Due to the challenges these young carers face, from intensive care to household chores, their behavior and mental health are greatly affected.
One major effect of intensive caregiving young carers face is finding time for themselves. According to “The Path of a Young Carer,” “Since their family’s care and housework take up the majority of a young carer’s day, they find it difficult to spare time solely for themselves without the burden of taking care of their family.” Spare time is vital for young carers to escape from their intensive caregiving, especially since they are still children and adolescents. The absence of this free time leads “to the loss of childishness in adolescence, [a core stage of life]. Since they have been caregiving for a long time, they become more self-conscious, increasing their stress, causing the absence their childhood innocence” which could affect young carers later in life.
From a psychological aspect, young carers are often found to act as model students, to avoid trouble. Ms. Ooba mentioned, “When I went outside, for example, to school, people would view me and my family as a ‘difficult household’, and we would face some kind of discriminatory treatment. This made me try even harder to be a ‘good child’ because I didn’t want anyone to think badly of my family.” She also mentions in her book, “The Path of a Young Carer” that being a ‘good child’ is also to secure a space in a community. Young carers are occasionally seen negatively due to their family situations or face discriminatory treatment like Ooba, which could lead to being further isolated within a community. Therefore, young carers try to become ‘good’ so that people within the community welcome them and they feel like they have somewhere to go, especially since their homes are not a preferable environment.
These problems remain even after age 18 when they are no longer considered young carers. While the defining age of young carers is under 18, this doesn’t mean that once they reach the age of 18, their caregiving responsibility ends. As long as the person who requires care exists, they still have to continue their role as a young carer even when they are no longer “young.” Not only does the caregiving responsibility remain, but they also continue to experience similar struggles from when they were young, which could build additional problems once they are adults. Young carers always live with the question of when their caregiving responsibility will end.
Undoubtedly, the ongoing need for support from the care recipient is why young carers have to take on the role despite reaching 18. However, a psychological aspect was also developed through the young carer’s childhood period. Young carers have spent most of their childhood caring for their family member, so the caring role has automatically become their responsibility. Due to the long-term care and limited experience outside their home, they feel that caring for their family member is their identity. Therefore, despite reachingage 18, they cannot abruptly leave their family, unable to gain the freedom and flexibility that they desire. Ooba mentioned, “Since they’ve been [providing care] from a young age, it becomes ingrained as their role. So, even as an adult, the question is, who will take over what they have been doing? As long as that responsibility remains, they probably feel like they have to keep doing it, even as an adult, and they end up carrying that burden.”
This sense of responsibility and this codependent relationship can also end up negatively impacting young carers who have grown up to be adults, commonly during major life events.
Ooba experienced the impact of her experience as a young carer when she was majoring in education at university. She initially wanted to become a teacher, but after learning that new teachers tend to transfer to different areas, she gave up on her dream, realizing that she could not care for her family if she moved further away. Ooba states, “I would always think, ‘If I do this, how will it affect my family?’ ‘If I live here, will my family be okay?’ ‘If I make this choice, will it have a negative impact on them?’ These were the things I always thought about first. I couldn’t be selfish. Rather than fulfilling my desires, I would prioritize my family and their needs.”
However, despite already sacrificing their childhoods, and constantly prioritizing their family over themselves, most adult young carers don’t seek help. This happens because, throughout childhood, it was the norm for them to take care of their family independently, so they didn’t know how to seek help when they needed assistance. Ooba stated, “Young carers don’t get the chance to be protected when they are young. Instead, they take on the role of protecting and caring for someone else, so they continuously do that. As a result, I think it’s hard for them to rely on others.”
This mentality can cause psychological problems due to the absence of experience with receiving help during adolescence. They refuse to rely on others and instead choose to handle matters on their own, which consequently causes “mental health issues or burnout,” leading to another downward cycle.
Ooba also experienced the effects of this psychological problem while parenting her child, when she was diagnosed with postpartum depression: “When giving birth and raising a child, you can’t do it all alone — you need help. But because no one in my family had ever helped me before, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for help. I didn’t think it was okay to ask. As a result, I tried to do everything on my own, which led to me breaking down and developing postpartum depression.” This is also further facilitated by the social perspective within Japan — how family matters should be dealt with within the family.
To improve this ongoing situation of young adult carers, Ooba believes the most important factors are a safe community and understanding the adults around them. Ooba states, “ It’s important to create a space where anyone, regardless of their background or situation, can find a place to belong. I’ve also experienced that, in my family, there was no way out of the difficult situation on my own. It took an understanding adult to come to my aid. Without adults who could understand and support me, I wouldn’t have been saved.”
Being a young carer has been a part of their identity since childhood. Thus, providing a community where they can express themselves freely and allowing them to have a moment where they can be freed from their caregiving responsibilities could be the first step towards improving the situation. In addition, it is crucial to have an understanding adult within the community who could recognize and provide support to young carers who are facing challenges.
Ooba strongly believes 受援力 (jyuennryoku), — a skill or an environment that is capable of receiving assistance or community service according to the Disastrous Management Cabinet Office — is the key factor in altering situations for both adults and current young carers to alter the situation. 受援力 (jyuennryoku) is a term that was commonly used in 3.11, Tohoku earthquake to provide efficient support for the victims of the earthquake and to restore communities. This is a difficult skill to gain for adults with a young carer background as they are not used to relying on someone else. However, providing a safe community with trustworthy and understanding adults gives them the reassurance to voice their concerns and actively seek support.
With both experiences of being a young carer and facing the effects of the caring experience when becoming an adult, Ooba “aims to provide a place for children and [reliable] adults to meet” through organizations such as Ayumi Yell, which focuses on providing a safe space for young people regardless of background. Ooba is not only a writer and a founder of Ayumi Yell, but she is also a freelance midwife, after experiencing support from others during postpartum depression. Ooba’s sharing of her young carer experience and her current career brought many young carers hope for their future.
“If I can find happiness, then I can prove that even with a complicated family background, there’s a way to live strongly. Without showing this, people born into such families may feel like they have no hope. The thing is, whether someone is born into a certain kind of family is beyond their control—it’s not like we choose where or to whom we’re born. It just happens. So, I don’t think it’s fair for someone to be trapped in misery for the rest of their life just because of their family circumstances. That’s why I wanted to show that it’s possible to be happy even if you’re born into a difficult situation. But for that to be convincing, I first needed to find happiness myself, which took quite a long time.”
