Foster carers have a unique role within the children’s sector – they are some of the only individuals who provide care for children in their own homes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and welcome them into their families. Foster carers should receive a fee to recognise their important and unique role.
Foster carers should be provided with adequate fee payments to recognise their time, skills and experience.
Whilst all foster carers receive an allowance to cover the costs of caring for a child in foster care. There is no requirement for fostering services to provide foster carers with a fee. As a result, some foster carers receive no fee payment, and for those who do, the levels are often low.
There is a lot of disparity across the UK between the fees that foster carers receive for their time, skills and expertise. Only a small minority of foster carers receive the equivalent of the national living wage for a 40-hour week.
Our research
We surveyed foster carers in the summer of 2017. This survey, which had almost 2,000 respondents, found that:
- Just over half (58 per cent) of foster carers receive a fee which is separate from the allowance.
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15 per cent of foster carers do not receive any fees at all, and a quarter of foster carers receive a lump sum payment which includes the allowance and a fee.
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Based on a notional 40-hour week, a quarter of foster carers received the equivalent of less than £1.70 an hour.
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Only one in 10 foster carers receives the equivalent of the national living wage for a 40-hour week.
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98 per cent believe that foster carers should be paid.
While more recent statistics from our State of the Nation 2021 survey found that just under 40 per cent of foster carers in the UK are still not receiving a fee. This survey also found that 61 per cent of foster carers who responded do not combine fostering with other work.
At worst, low or no fees means that some foster carers will be forced to maintain their households on low income levels. Receiving a low fee can also contribute to foster carers feeling that their role is under-valued and not respected in the team around the child.
The importance of fees
Amongst the motivations for fostering as reported by foster carers, fees are consistently ranked low on the list. Making a difference to the life of a child in care is the primary motivation. We believe that this is how it should be. Nonetheless, foster carer fees must be seen as a key factor in recruitment and retention because the demographic pool of foster carers will inevitably be limited to those who can afford to foster without receiving an adequate fee.
The Fostering Network believes that it is a matter of social justice that foster carers receive a fee.
No foster carer should be expected to live in poverty. Fostering services are recruiting foster carers with the skills to transform children’s lives, there should be a level of fee that recognises this important and unique role.
What should change
We believe that:
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In the short term, fostering fees must be paid at a level equivalent to the national living wage based on a 40-hour week for 52 weeks of the year, including holiday and sick pay. This is regardless of whether the foster carer is currently caring for a child.
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In the longer term, fostering fees should be paid on a par with residential workers in children’s homes.
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Governments should invest in local authorities and trusts to ensure the necessary financial support is available.
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Foster carers should continue to receive fees while allegations of malpractice are investigated.
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Tiered payment schemes are preferable. These should consider factors such as length of service, qualifications, training undertaken, capacity for learning shown by reflection on practice, and the needs of children. Tiered schemes can be an important mechanism for developing and recognising foster carers' skills and can be a motivational tool for improving performance.
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Decisions about foster carers undertaking work in addition to fostering must reflect individual circumstances and must give priority to the needs of the child. See our policy on combining fostering and other work for more detail.
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Any changes made to fee payment schemes at local level should not result in individual foster carers being worse off.
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The administration of fees should be transparent. Fostering services should distinguish clearly between fees and allowances. Every foster carer should understand what fees they are entitled to; fostering services should publish clear information about fee schemes and their criteria. Payment slips and payment records should be understandable, and foster carer fees should be received promptly.
If you want to get in touch with our policy and campaigns team for more information about foster carer fees, please email policy@fostering.net.
