Caring for Others to Care for Myself: Exploring the Experiences of Racialized Young Sibling Caregivers in Alberta

Abstract

This study examines how racialized young people in Alberta come to understand the care they provide to their siblings, situated within scholarship on intersectionality and caregiving (Crenshaw, 2013; Lee and Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2011). Research on young caregivers illustrates the need for an intersectional lens towards care, particularly how cultural expectations, migration histories, and limited access to formal supports shape the everyday responsibilities of racialized youth (Akkan, 2019; Brady et al., 2019; Seeman, 2013; Statistics Canada, 2019). This study uses a critical ethnographic approach to explore how young sibling caregivers describe their roles and the conditions in which their caregiving emerges. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and field notes with ten participants aged 18 to 29, all of whom provided ongoing care to a sibling as part of broader family, cultural, and settlement-related responsibilities.  Findings demonstrate that caregiving often begins with routine tasks and extends into emotional support, coordination, and advocacy work. Participants described navigating schools, healthcare settings, and community services while managing expectations tied to birth order, gender, and their role in supporting parents’ work and settlement needs. These responsibilities influenced how participants understood themselves, their relationships, and the possibilities they envisioned for their futures, highlighting the need for further recognition, boundaries, and autonomy. By centering lived and living experiences, this study contributes to more culturally grounded understandings of caregiving and offers implications for practice in social work, health, and community supports by identifying how systems can better recognize and respond to racialized young sibling caregivers.