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Families under the microscope: parallels between the young carers debate of the 1990s and the transformation of childhood in the late nineteenth century
Author(s) -
Olsen Richard
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2000.tb00192.x
Subject(s) - parallels , scope (computer science) , perspective (graphical) , face (sociological concept) , sociology , resistance (ecology) , gender studies , psychology , developmental psychology , social science , economics , visual arts , art , ecology , biology , operations management , computer science , programming language
Existing analysis and discussion about young carers—children caring for ill or disabled family members—has been limited in scope, concentrating on narrow policy and service issues. In this paper, I attempt to introduce a more historical perspective to these debates, by comparing responses to the issue of young caring in the 1990s to resistance encountered in the implementation of child labour and education reforms towards the end of the nineteenth century. I discuss the parallel ways in which the quality of childhood for some children became problematised without sufficient recognition of the limited choices that some families face. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.