Young carers are a concept and a distinct group of children that has not been

much researched from a legal perspective, especially not in a Swedish context.

In this article, the research focus is on how the Swedish social law regulation

can be applied to this group. First, the group itself is discussed and defined,

then this definition is tested against a couple of regulations within the field

of social law in Sweden. One conclusion is that this group is not specifically

recognized in Swedish social law. This implies that the group can be “hidden”

in the sense that potential support and help won’t be targeted at this group of

children. Another conclusion is that much of the support and help is dedicated

to the relative of the young carer, the person that the young carer takes care

of. A young carer can therefore have to rely on the outcome of the relative’s

applications within the social systems to see a change in their situation, rather

than have the right to support regarding their own needs.