Caring for family members
Combining university studies with the care of family members is a challenge requiring good organization. It is important to get good advice and find out who can help.
Caring for family members whilst studying
Young students often provide care to family members. A survey conducted in 2017 by The Centre for Quality in Care (“Zentrum für Qualität und Pflege”) revealed that some 230,000 children and teenagers from 12 to 17 carry some form of responsibility for caring for relatives. There are no reliable figures as to how many students hold responsibility for caring for relatives, but it can be assumed that a certain number of young adults perform care duties for relatives during the course of their studies. This double burden can pose a considerable challenge.
We are happy to provide comprehensive advice about combining university studies with care responsibilities.
Contact points and advice
- Pflegen und Leben (a free-of-charge anonymous online advice center for people with responsibility for caring for relatives)
- Young Helping Hands (a website with a lot of information for young carers)
- Echt unersetzlich (an advice center for young carers)
- Leave of Absence (Student Registry, University of Bonn)
Contact
Please also read
Financing care
The german website Sturado provides comprehensive information about financing and organizing the care of relatives.
First steps
What should I do when a care situation suddenly presents itself? What do health insurers pay to cover my needs? Answers to your questions are provided here.
Help for carers
A tonne of forms and emotional distress? The consumers association “Verbraucherzentrale” gives helpful advice on how to meet the challenge of caring for relatives.