The finances of being a foster carer

Nobody fosters for the money. But it has to add up, or it doesn’t last. So here’s the financial side set out plainly: what arrives in your account each week, and where you’ll stand on tax.

One weekly payment, per child

We pay a single weekly fee for every child placed with you. It rolls the child’s allowance and your reward as a foster carer into one figure:

• £479.50 per week for a child aged 0–10

• £507.50 per week for a child aged 11 and over

Place two children and you’re paid twice. We don’t reduce payments for siblings or for multiple children.

That fee is built to cover the full cost of caring for a child:

• Food and household expenses

• Clothing and footwear

• School equipment and trips

• Transport costs

• Activities, hobbies and clubs

• Celebrations such as birthdays and seasonal events

There’s a council tax contribution on top of it.

The two parts of the weekly fee

Pull the figure apart and there are two elements to it. The allowance covers the day-to-day costs of looking after a child. The reward element recognises your professional role and commitment as a foster carer. We pay them as one amount to keep things simple, and we tell you exactly what you are getting.

Where you stand on tax

Foster carers are classed as self-employed for tax purposes, so you’ll complete an annual self-assessment tax return. The bill at the end of it tends to be the surprise. Fostering has its own tax rules, called Qualifying Care Relief, and in most standard fostering arrangements carers pay little or no income tax on their fostering income because of them.

Your own circumstances might not be standard ones, so get independent financial advice before you plan around any of these numbers.

The costs that creep up

The direct costs are the ones you’d guess at: food, clothing, school items and activities. The weekly fee is built for those. The indirect ones are worth planning for too.

• Increased utility bills

• Wear and tear on household furniture

• Additional laundry and cleaning

• Increased fuel costs

Budgeting matters most in the early months, while routines are still settling. Your supervising social worker will go through realistic expectations with you, and how other carers manage it.

Questions to ask any agency

Agencies don’t all pay the same, and the differences between them can be significant. Some structure their payments differently. Some make deductions in certain circumstances. Before you commit to anyone, ask:

• What is the weekly fee for different age groups?

• Are payments reduced for siblings?

• Are there any hidden deductions?

• Is council tax support included?

• What happens if a child moves placement?

Money shouldn’t be the only thing that decides it. But you should get a straight answer to all five.

Fostering and the rest of your working life

Most carers change how they work once they start fostering. Some reduce their hours. Some leave previous employment. Others combine part-time work with fostering. It’s a 24/7 role, so that flexibility counts, and the payments are structured to make fostering a realistic option for households that need stability.

In some families it means one adult stays at home, and that consistency reaches their own children as much as the foster child.

Every household is different. Financial planning is part of the first proper conversation we have with you.

What the money is actually for

Fostering isn’t a job in the traditional sense. It becomes part of your daily life, and the financial support exists to make that possible rather than to replace the reason you’re doing it. Children in care need carers who are patient and emotionally available. Sorting the money out first is what lets you concentrate on the child instead of on the bills.

Talk it through with us

The short version, if you’ve scrolled straight to the bottom:

• £479.50 per week for children aged 0–10

• £507.50 per week for children aged 11+

• Council tax contribution included

• No reductions for siblings

• The same payment every week, for every child

If you want to go through what that would look like for your own household, we’ll do it on a call, with no obligation either way. We cover Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol.

Use the chat on this site or ask for a call back. There’s a short enquiry form too, if that’s easier.