Financial support for foster carers

While money is not the main reason most people choose to foster, we know you can’t do it without support.

We believe you should never be out of pocket.

Our foster carers receive a highly competitive allowance up to £29,000 a year, per child, which is regularly reviewed to help our carers provide the best care for our children.

What you could get paid

The amount our foster carers will receive depends on:

the age of the child you are looking after
any additional needs they may have

We offer starting allowances of between £276 to £414 per week, per child, depending on their age and needs. Our carers allowances increase when training is completed.

Your questions, answered

We know you may have questions, we're here to help answer them.

Payments are shown as per week.

Child's age	New to fostering	After your training
0 to 10	£276	£362.25
11 to 15	£356.50	£442.75
16 and over	£414	£500.25

Fostering a child with high needs
Child's age	Weekly payment
0 to 10	£419.75
11 to 15	£500.25
16 and over	£557.75

You will understand the needs of the child better than us, so you decide how to spend the money, but it is expected to cover:

food
clothes
heating and lighting
pocket money (a specified amount depending on the child's age)
dinner money
leisure and social activities
holiday costs

Additional allowances are paid to contribute to a child's birthday and religious festivals.

Income Tax

All types of foster carers are self-employed and receive a generous tax allowance on the income you receive from fostering.

This means households will not pay tax on earnings from fostering up to a maximum of £19,360 per year (and in some cases you won’t pay tax at all).

Find out more about tax exemption and tax relief for foster carers.

State benefits

Fostering allowances are unlikely to affect any state benefits that you receive. But you should let the organisation that you receive your benefits from know that you receive a fostering allowance.

You can get disability benefits  if your foster child receives financial support due to a disability or health condition.