Norwegian National informal carer survey 2025 – focus on Young Adult Carers
This report was prepared by Opinion AS on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The full report is available in Norwegian here: Data pårørendeundersøkelsen 2025_total.Q
Purpose
The purpose of the report is to determine to what degree young adult carers differ from those without caregiving experiences when it comes to quality of life, mental health and satisfaction.
Methodology
The study was conducted as a web-based survey using a representative sample of young people aged 16–25. Participants were randomly selected from the Norwegian Population Register and received an invitation by mail.
The survey was not presented as a study of informal carers, but rather as a general mapping of young people’s everyday lives and quality of life.
Sample and population
A total of 9,027 young people responded to the survey. Of these, 2,215 identified as young adult carers.
Based on the sample, the survey indicates that 24 per cent of young people aged 16–25 are young carers. This corresponds to approximately 164,117 individuals in the population.
This estimate includes young people who care for parents, siblings or partners. When also including those who reported caring for others, the proportion increases to 37 per cent, corresponding to approximately 251,656 young adult carers.
Key Findings
Who are the young carers?
The survey shows a clear overrepresentation of girls and young women among young carers. Most are caring for a parent, and mental health conditions are the most common reason for providing care.
While a majority report spending relatively little time on caregiving (0–3 hours per week), a small group (5%) spends 10 hours or more. A considerable proportion report that time use is “not relevant”, which may indicate that their caring experience lies in the past or that they do not live with the person they care for. Those caring for someone with physical illness report spending the most time, while those caring for someone with addiction or co-occurring conditions (mental health and addiction, ROP-patients in Norway) more often report spending no time.
Health, wellbeing and life satisfaction
Young adult carers report significantly poorer outcomes across several dimensions of wellbeing compared to their peers.
More than half report having long-term health problems, compared to 35% of young people overall. Nearly half (49%) report poor mental health, which is 16 percentage points higher than among young people in general.
YAC also report significantly lower life satisfaction. Only 11% report being satisfied with life, compared to 20% among young people overall. Economic factors play an important role: those who both have caring responsibilities and experience financial difficulties report markedly lower life satisfaction than other young carers.
Four in ten YAC report a low sense of meaning in life.
Mental health and emotional burden
Using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-5), young carers report higher levels of all measured symptoms compared to their peers, including nervousness, anxiety, hopelessness and worry. The largest differences are seen in nervousness, worry and hopelessness.
Although YAC report an overall predominance of positive emotions, they experience more negative emotions than young people without caring responsibilities.
Half of YAC report that they feel they always need to be available.
Social life and belonging
Young adult carers report lower satisfaction with their relationships with friends and more frequent experiences of social exclusion compared to other young people.
One in four loses contact with friends as a result of their caring role. YAC are also less likely to spend time with friends and more likely to feel isolated.
Variation in outcomes
A latent class analysis identified three distinct groups of YAC based on wellbeing:
- 32% are doing well, with good health, high life satisfaction and strong coping
- 39% are managing, but experience moderate challenges
- 29% are struggling, with low life satisfaction, weak coping and more mental health problems
Those in the most vulnerable group are more often female, more socially isolated, more likely to experience financial difficulties, and more likely to care for someone with co-occurring mental health and addiction problems.
Contact with services
YAC have higher awareness of available support services than other young people. However, their experiences with services are mixed.
Among those who have been in contact with services, many report not being seen or taken seriously. The police, child welfare services and municipal mental health services stand out most negatively.
Approximately half of those who have been in contact with the police in relation to the person they care for report that they were not adequately seen or taken seriously.
