How much fostering pay

The amount of allowance paid depends on the type of care and the age of the child or young person. Foster carers are also paid a variety of expenses. The payment is generally the same for short and long term placements. Foster carer with one foster child Cindy is a foster carer looking after 12 year old Joe. Local Authority payments have recommended, national fostering pay rates for each foster child.

Council foster carers are paid a weekly fostering allowance to cover the cost of foster care for a child or children. England and Northern Ireland councils use the recommended rates. The total pay is structured to separate to the allowance for the child, and reward for the carer.

The payment is provided to cover the following: General household expenses, food, clothing, mileage, school meals and any other items or outings required to look after a foster child. The payment takes into account the fact that foster care for children cost more than caring for birth children.

This enables foster carers to become self employed, earn a reasonable living and choose to care for children and young people on a full or part-time basis. Private fostering is when the parent of the child has made an arrangement with another adult private foster carer to care for their child. The parent is responsible for any money paid to the private foster carer. The foster carer is responsible for receiving all of the welfare benefits they are entitled to; such as Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit and Housing Benefit.

UK foster carers generally pay no tax on their fostering income. Fostering one child continually for a tax year, you could receive:. Carers are entitled to Home Responsibility Protection — a way to make sure that you do not get less Basic Retirement Pension, because you decided to look after children at home. Any payments are generally not included, and do not effect Benefits.

Do you want to be a foster carer? You will need to be able to show that you are now financially secure enough to provide a stable home for any children that are placed with you, and that you are able to manage the fostering allowances paid to you. Skip to main content. You are here Home » How much will I get paid? Additional benefits As a Foster Carer you are also entitled to a range of benefits and discounts. Can I still foster? Feedback If you experience a bug or would like to see an addition on the current page, feel free to leave us a message.

It will generally cover the cost of food, clothing, toiletries, pocket money and all other expenses incurred including pocket money and savings. How much foster parents get paid in the UK also depends on the type of fostering that you do. For example, a parent and child fostering allowance , can be up to 1. As foster carers are considered self-employed , they are responsible for paying their own taxes.

Find out more about how this all works from our guide to foster carer taxes or with HRMC. The below foster care pay breakdown examples will give you an idea of how the tax allowances work. All examples are for illustrative purposes only and are based on a week placement. How Do I Transfer? Foster Care Training and Support. Local Offices. Our Stories. Our Carers Our Children.

Knowledge Centre. Contact Us. Get in touch. How Much do Foster Parents get Paid? This can include: The needs of the child or young person in your care The age of your foster placement and the geographical area you are fostering in. It can also depend on whether you are fostering with a local authority of an independent fostering agency — as the latter can often afford to pay its care team a larger weekly amount than local authorities can.

So, how much do foster parents get paid?