allowances

The issue

Foster families are currently receiving much less than they need to support the children and young people in their care to achieve their best possible outcomes. The Fostering Network has campaigned for foster care allowances over the course of its nearly 50-year history.

The current national minimum allowances (NMAs) set by governments across the UK are not enough. The rates are based on out-of-date research, have not been keeping pace with inflation and are not aspirational for our young people. 

What are foster care allowances?

All foster carers receive a weekly fostering allowance from their fostering service when they have a child living with them, which is designed to cover the cost of caring for a child in foster care. This includes food, clothes, toiletries, travel and all other expenses incurred and varies depending on the age of the child.

Despite the fact that most foster carers don't shout a lot about pay - indeed among the motivations for fostering as reported by foster carers, fee payments are consistently ranked low on the list - it doesn't mean foster carers shouldn't get paid or that pay is not important to them.

The children and young people needing foster care today have many different needs but all require their foster carers to be skilled, knowledgeable, committed to them and recognised as a key professional in the team that supports them.

Despite this, many foster carers are not paid for the skills, time and expertise they bring to fostering. Of those who are paid, only a minority receive anything resembling a living wage, although a very small number do get significant fee payments.

The fostering allowance is designed to cover the cost of caring for a fostered child. Fee payments can be made on top of allowances, but there is no requirement for this. As a result, the amounts being paid vary hugely across the country, with only a small minority of foster carers even receiving the equivalent of the national living wage for a 40-hour week.

Why we’re making this change

Recommendations are now made by national governments

We have been campaigning, on behalf of foster carers, for the introduction of allowances since the early 1990s. We were delighted when governmental recommendations for minimum allowances were introduced in England almost a decade ago, followed by Wales in 2011.

What are allowances?

All foster carers receive a weekly fostering allowance from their fostering service when they have a child living with them, which is designed to cover the cost of caring for a child in foster care. This includes food, clothes, toiletries, travel and all other expenses incurred and varies depending on the age of the child.

Allowances

All foster carers receive a weekly fostering allowance which is designed to cover the cost of caring for a fostered child. This should cover food, clothes, toiletries and all other expenses incurred in looking after a fostered child.