It is the proper way of things that parents should look after children, not the other way around.

However, in the Bradford district there are almost 1,300 young people below the age of 15 who have to shoulder the burden of caring for their parents who might be ill or otherwise incapacitated and unable to cope.

This obviously has knock-on effects on the children themselves, who might find their school work slipping, their attention elsewhere, and not knowing where to turn for help. More than that, it removes the carefree attitude that children should have at that age.

These child carers are a hidden resource that society leans on far too much, and they must be given more help to cope if things are difficult at home, and efforts must be made to ensure that the parents are getting the proper support to ease the pressure on the children.

The children’s charity Barnardo’s is calling on every school to do more to identify pupils who have these extra responsibilities at home, and to give them the appropriate help and support, both with their school work and with their personal situations.

Many children might be hiding their domestic situation from their teachers because they perhaps feel ashamed at the reasons their parent cannot cope, or fear that they will be taken away from the family home and put into care.

It is not right that we allow young people to take up the slack of the Welfare State in this way. We only get one childhood, and we as a society should be doing everything in our power to ensure that the early years of Bradford children are as happy as possible.