Setting the scene: Cross-sectional country comparisons of associations between young adult care and education, employment, and health outcomes in Europe

With increasing demand for informal carers, young adults are taking up care for dependent adults in their family and close networks. However, this may have important repercussions for their longer-term labour market and health outcomes. Early adulthood is the period in which most people invest in human capital and transition to employment. Being neither in employment nor in training (NEET) during this period may have long-term effects, increasing the risk of future unemployment and poor mental health. Furthermore, this can vary depending on the country availability of social support systems. Nonetheless, only a few studies have explored the association between taking care of a dependent adult during young adulthood and NEET and health outcomes in a cross-country perspective. This study explores data from the third wave of European Health Survey (EHIS, 2019) to better understand the situation of young adult carers in Europe. We explore the association between caregiving and NEET status, as well as self-perceived health and mental health of young adults (aged 18-29 years), using multilevel regression models to estimate country differences in these three associations. Like this, we can examine the extent to which formal care resources available in each country reduce the gap between carers and non-carers related to their health and NEET outcomes. Our results indicate that, overall, those who care for dependent adults are more likely to be in NEET status (only intensive caring), perceive bad health and report worse mental health. However, long-term state care resources do not affect the gap in any of our outcomes between carers and those who do not care. Hence, it may be cultural differences, or other forms of support, that play a role in the health risks of young adult carers.