Emily, right, and Carrie-Ann Crawshaw, second left, care for their severely disabled mother Paula, second right, and help her around the house, while father Mark, left, works long hours in his IT job

For little sisters Carrie-Ann and Emily Crawshaw, finishing primary school for the day does not herald an evening of carefree play; they will not go home to watch television or have fun with friends.

Aged just six and nine, they will instead help care for their severely disabled mother Paula, carrying out demanding responsibilities well beyond their tender years.

In a pitiable reversal of mother-daughter roles, they will cook dinner, tidy the house and do the laundry.

They will help their mother to shower, washing her hair over the sink if she is too unwell to make it upstairs to the bathroom, all the while ensuring nothing is left on the floor which she could stumble over. Before school, they will make breakfast.

‘I help Mummy get dressed, tidy up and do the laundry,’ says cheery, blonde-haired Carrie-Ann.

‘I put her socks and shoes on as she can’t bend down. It’s all right helping Mummy but sometimes I’ve had enough and don’t want to. I like playing with my cuddly toys when I’m not helping her.’

Dance-loving Emily is just as upbeat: ‘I go to the corner shop and look after my sister.

'I make breakfast, cups of tea and do the washing up. I can find it a bit frustrating sometimes and I get bad manners and in a bad temper because I want to play.

‘I love practising ballet and gymnastics in my room. I’m good at twirling, front flips and handstands.’

Carrie-Ann and Emily are far from alone in carrying such heavy burdens on their shoulders.

According to a new report, carried out for the Children’s Commissioner for England, more than 160,000 children, barely able to look after themselves, are missing out on childhood because they are caring for family members. Research shows their lives will be adversely impacted.

Their education will suffer because of having to take time off school when they are needed at home or because they are too tired or distracted to concentrate.

They do not have the time to make friends and will be more at risk of being bullied because of their increasing isolation.

Of these children, only a fifth are known and receive the support they are entitled to from local authorities. Appallingly, at least 160 carers are under the age of five.

Carrie-Ann used to be one of this number. She and her sister share care responsibilities that no child should have to cope with.

Their mother Paula, 45, a former healthcare worker, is consumed with guilt that her illness means her daughters are denied the carefree childhood she enjoyed.

Carrie-Ann, six, even does daily tasks such as the washing, pictured, to take the burden off her mother, who has chronic pain condition fibromyalgia

Paula's condition was triggered by Carrie-Ann's birth. Emily, nine, and her sister, pictured, are often told by their mother they 'cannot go out to play' because they are needed at home

Paula has fibromyalgia, a chronic musculoskeletal and tissue disease which causes constant pain.

She also has osteoarthritis and cannot walk unaided. She is able to take the girls the short distance from their home to school and back each day thanks only to a mobility scooter.

Her husband Mark, 53, works long hours in IT. He is the breadwinner and they struggle to pay the mortgage on their three-bedroom home in Fareham, Hampshire, which they took out before Paula became unwell six years ago. They receive no local authority support.

Little is known of fibromyalgia, but in Paula’s case, it was triggered by Carrie-Ann’s traumatic birth.

‘This is one of the hardest things: Emily knew me when I was well, when I was a normal mummy who could play with her,’ she says.

‘It’s heartbreaking because you do not have children so they can look after you.

‘It’s a struggle, especially when they ask: “Mummy, can I go out with friends?” I have to tell them “no, you need to help me.”

Their responsibilities make them older than they should be.’

Almost three years ago, struggling with her illness and the guilt of how much she was asking of her children, Paula broke down in the school playground.

The school put the family in touch with The Honeypot Children’s Charity, which offers support and respite breaks for young carers.

The girls, pictured with Mark and Paula, now go away for fun-packed weekends to take them away from their responsibilities at home

Since then, the girls have started to go for fun-packed weekends away from their responsibilities at home.

‘They don’t have to wash a dish and can watch the same film ten times over if they like,’ says Paula.

‘They can stay up late, bake a cake or build a den. They can do all the things children want to do without anyone turning round and saying: “Hang on, you’ve got to grow up now.” ’

Why are so many children filling in the gaps in the social care system?

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, says it is unacceptable that so many such children go ‘under the radar’.

Far from helping with the occasional bit of washing up, making a bed or running to the shops, these children are providing systematic support, many for more than 50 hours a week.

Nathan Boyce, 10, left, cares for his mother Sarah, right, who has been blind since childhood

Star Wars fan Nathan, pictured with Stormtrooper actors, helps unpack his mother's shopping and reads out cookery instructions

Their love and sense of duty is remarkable,’ she says. ‘We know the price they pay in terms of poorer health, lower school results, missed days of education and long-term life chances.

'What official statistics fail to collect is the emotional cost, both in supporting vulnerable people when they are still children, and in missing out on the fun and carelessness their classmates enjoy.’

Ten-year-old Nathan Boyce cares for his mother Sarah who has been blind since childhood after a brain tumour.

She too feels guilty but says they have an especially close bond as she has been a single parent for the past five years.

‘Nathan is my world, I’d be lost without him. He reads my post to me, helps unpack my shopping and reads out cookery instructions.

'I can only see light or dark, not colours, so he separates the washing. He does so much for me.’

Nathan, pictured on his first birthday, was born 16 weeks prematurely along with twin sister Sophie, who died

Sarah, who suffered a brain tumour during childhood, said she felt guilty about how much Nathan, pictured aged two, does for her

Nathan, pictured as a younger child, has an escape from his duties through his pets

When he is not helping his mother, Nathan plays with his pets. ‘I have a hamster called Elsa and a rabbit called Yoda and I like to look after them. I also love Star Wars.

‘I really like helping Mummy and miss her when I go away. I read her letters and help make food.

'Sometimes I forget to tidy my things away though, which is wrong as I need to be careful she doesn’t trip over.’

Sarah and Nathan’s two-bedroom flat in a Sixties tower block in Southampton is a small, happy home but their lives have been touched by terrible tragedies.

Nathan was one of twins born 16 weeks prematurely. His sister Sophie died.

More heartache came for Sarah when she lost another child, Archie, who was born at just 25 weeks into her pregnancy in 2010 but died three months later because of his prematurity. She is no longer with her children’s father.

‘Nathan does a lot for me but I’m glad it’s Nathan and not a stranger.’

Sarah, who studied health and social care, is unemployed but says she is seeking work but feels hampered by her disability: ‘No one wants to employ a blind woman.’

Like Paula, she doesn’t receive council support and is entirely reliant on Nathan, who also benefits from respite stays with Honeypot.

‘We’re the best of friends and he likes helping me on the whole, although sometimes he has a strop.

The pair live in a two-bedroom flat in Southampton

'It’s great for him when he goes away. It’s the only holiday he gets and it gives him a chance to be a normal kid for a weekend at least.’

The study, the first time data on young carers has been collected, found 130,000 children aged between five and 17 who were unknown to local authorities, in addition to the 32,000 who are receiving some support.

As councils do not count those looking after relatives addicted to alcohol or drugs, the true figure is likely to be a lot higher.

Of the 18,000 young carers who were brought to the attention of councils in 2015-2016, a third were rejected without assessment, even though children caring for a relative are legally entitled to be evaluated for support.

The study showed how councils seem to simply go through the motions; prioritising their legal requirement to assess referrals over the actual provision of support.

For example, voluntary organisations are routinely given contracts to carry out assessments but not to help afterwards.

One of these anonymously told the report: ‘The pressure is on us to carry out assessments. That is where council funding goes.

'But when it comes to following through and delivering the support those young carers need, the budget dries up. We are essentially carrying out assessments as a tick-box exercise.’

Councillor Richard Watts, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said councils are facing a gap of almost £2billion in their funding for children’s services, meaning the situation is only going to get worse.

Peter Suchet, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Honeypot, says the organisation has helped nearly 5,000 children aged between five and 12 since it was founded 20 years ago.

It has two respite centres, in the New Forest and in Wales. Each is equipped with trampolines, tennis courts, bikes, an adventure playground and swimming pool.

He believes more needs to be done: ‘The scale of the problem of child carers in the UK is shocking but at least we work to give back to these children the childhoods they so richly deserve.’

Nine-year-old Ernie Knight, right, looks after his single mother Natalie, 39, left, who also has pain condition fibromyalgia

Nine-year-old Ernie Knight is another child who goes above and beyond in the support he provides for his mother, former hotel worker Natalie, 39, who also has fibromyalgia.

She has two other children, Zac, 13 and Chloe, 17, who also care for her but regularly spend time staying with their father, who Natalie is separated from, meaning Ernie is left to look after her as she has no family nearby and receives no local authority support.

Her three-bedroom, terraced house in Welshpool, Powys, has not been adapted for her needs and some days she has to crawl up the stairs.

‘I can’t walk very far or stand up for long. I don’t go out much. I also suffer from depression. There’s not much I can do without assistance.

‘Ernie pitches in with such good cheer. He makes a wonderful cup of tea, helps with the cooking, hoovers, folds clothes and uses the washing machine. He’s my legs on days when I can’t move.’

Natalie, pictured with Ernie, became ill five years ago after a hysterectomy. The nine-year-old now helps cook and clean for his teenager siblings Zac, 13 and Chloe, 17

Natalie became ill five years ago after a hysterectomy. Soon afterwards, Ernie’s father Bill died aged 37 in a car crash and her condition deteriorated.

‘It has made us stronger as a family but I know it’s hard. I can’t be a regular mum and run around with them in the park, it’s very difficult to play or go out. I’m in pain most of the time.

‘Sometimes it bothers Ernie. He doesn’t grumble much but I feel guilty about how much all of my children do.

'They’ve had to grow up so quickly. I would be totally, utterly lost without them; they keep me going every day.

'I can’t ever give up because I have three little people who need me, just as I need them.’

Ernie, who also goes on respite breaks, is very matter-of-fact about how much he does for his mother.

‘I bend down because mum can’t, I do the recycling, I make food, I do things every day. Sometimes I get fed up because I want to go out and play football.

‘I really like it when I go away with Honeypot because I play in the forest on a swing and cargo net and I don’t have to do any jobs. I like meeting other children.’

Although the level of care provided by Carrie-Ann, Emily, Nathan and Ernie may seem shocking, they are the lucky ones in a sense in that they get some time off, when the vast majority do not.

As the Children’s Commissioner says: ‘Children love their parents and siblings. Many do amazing things for them and do it without complaint.

'All the more important, then, that we recognise this for the sacrifice it is, and do our best to lift the burden from their young shoulders.’