Financial support for foster carers

We understand that caring for children can be a demanding role. We offer a wide range of financial support, aimed to help you provide a high standard of care for the children.

Allowances

As well as our brilliant training and excellent support, you will receive a generous allowance when caring for a child or young person. The amount you will receive will depend on the age of the child you are looking after and any special needs they may have.

Child's age	Weekly core rate	Weekly core plus rate	Weekly high need rate
0 to 10	£240	£315	£365
11 to 15	£310	£385	£435
16+	£360	£435	£485

Core: this is the rate paid to all new carers.

Core Plus: this is paid to carers once they have completed mandatory training. It includes a £75 skill payment made to the carer per child.

High need rate: this also includes the £75 skill payment as well as an additional £50 to cover the cost of caring for a child with a higher level of need.

What can I spend this on?

You will understand the needs of the child better than us. We therefore generally don't tell you 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.

Training

You will also receive additional payments for training. Please visit our training and support page

Income Tax and state benefits

Income Tax

As a foster carer you will receive tax allowance on the income you receive from fostering. This means you will not pay tax on earnings up to a maximum of £10,000 per year.

As a consequence you can in some cases legitimately reduce or avoid tax payments.