The provision of respite care within families is a relatively new development and the ad hoc nature of individual schemes has resulted in a great variation in their character. Relatively little research has been carried out into the policy and practice of this important development in community care. "Share the Care" examines the different ways in which respite care schemes operate, focusing in particular on the share-the-care service in Lothian, the experience of parents of children with learning difficulties of the scheme, respite carers, who joins the scheme and why, their perceptions of its rewards and dissatisfactions, and their experience of social work support. Also discussed are the less positive effects of separation upon the children themselves, families facing an extended wait for respite and families who withdraw from the scheme.