The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of young and young adult carers during an era of targeted family welfare provision associated with the UK Labour Governments of 1997-2010. Drawing on the concept of intergenerational mutuality (Philip 2003), the study focussed on what happens to child-adult relationships when young and young adult carers move beyond normative intergenerational boundaries. Qualitative biographical interviews with 13 young and young adult carers and in-depth interviews with 10 young carers' workers were carried out and analysed, using a grounded approach (Bertaux 1981). Young and young adult carers' accounts of their caring roles were used to explore their relationships with significant others, and their perceptions of the impact of these roles on transitions from childhood to adulthood. Interviews with young carers' workers were used to explore their views about the balance between promoting efficacy for young and young adult carers and sustaining their rights to self- development and education. The research makes an original contribution to knowledge. It does so by providing in-depth comparisons between young carers' workers' and young and young adult carers' views about the impact of the latter's caring role on their transitions to adulthood and personal relationships. The former tended to pathologise the situations of young and young adult carers. In contrast, major concerns for young and young adult carers were: the barriers to relationships with peers arising from their role; the rigidity of the education system; and poor support for their dependent relatives, which could have helped them indirectly to manage their caring role.