Foster Carer Allowance and Pay

Fostering is paid. Here is what we pay, what the money is for, and where the national floor sits, so you can work out whether fostering would leave your household steady.

Please note: this is general information about fostering payments and tax, not personal financial advice. Our own rates are correct at 12 August 2026 and can change. The national minimum allowance figures are the published rates for the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, taken from gov.uk: help with the cost of fostering. For your own tax or benefits position, speak to an adviser or HMRC.

What do Fostering Hearts pay?

Our weekly rates, per child, while a child is placed with you:

• £479.50 a week for a child aged 0 to 10
• £507.50 a week for a young person aged 11 or over

Higher-needs placements carry an enhanced fee on top, usually somewhere between £100 and £200 a week. What that comes to depends on the placement, and we tell you the figure before you say yes to a child.

We also make a financial contribution towards your council tax as part of the reward package.

What is the difference between allowance and pay?

Two things arrive as one weekly payment.

The allowance is the part that goes on the child: food, clothes, shoes that last a term, bus fares, pocket money, the school trip, birthdays.

The pay is what is left once the child is properly provided for. That part is yours, in recognition of a trained carer doing a demanding job.

Our carers do not foster for the money. Plenty of them could not foster without it.

How is the national minimum allowance set?

Government sets a floor, not the rate you get.

For the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 the national minimum allowance in England runs from £176 to £309 a week, depending on the child’s age band and whether you live in London, the South East or the rest of England. Every fostering service has to pay at least that much. Ours pays well above it.

Once a young person turns 18 there is no national minimum any more, even if they are still living with you. Staying Put is funded differently, and we would talk that through with you before the birthday rather than after it.

Can you save part of a child’s allowance?

Yes, with agreement first.

Carers often put a set amount aside each week for a winter coat, a laptop, driving lessons or a holiday. Agree it with your supervising social worker and the child’s social worker, tell the child what you are doing, and write it down. Money saved openly builds trust. Money that quietly disappears does the opposite.

What happens to the allowance during respite?

It follows the child.

When a child goes to a respite carer for a weekend or a week, the allowance for those nights goes to the carer looking after them.

How do you keep on top of it?

Keep it dull and keep it written down.

• Note what you spend on the child, especially the larger one-off items
• Keep receipts for anything you may claim for, such as a school trip or a passport
• Involve the child in decisions about their own money as they get older
• Raise a shortfall early with your supervising social worker rather than absorbing it quietly
• Put your fostering income on a self assessment tax return, even when Qualifying Care Relief means you owe nothing

Do you pay tax on it?

Usually very little, and often none.

Qualifying Care Relief gives foster carers a tax-free threshold made up of a fixed amount per household plus a weekly amount for each child in your care. Most carers land under it. You still need to register as self-employed and file a return. We have set out how Qualifying Care Relief works, with the current figures and deadlines.

Is anything paid during assessment?

No.

Payment starts when a child is placed with you, not when you apply. Approval takes four to six months, so plan on that being an unpaid stretch.

You will not be doing this on your own

Money worries are one of the main reasons carers give up, so we would rather have the awkward conversation early than watch a household quietly struggle.

Our supervising social workers hold around six families each. Yours will know what your household can carry, will tell you what an enhanced fee actually comes to before you agree to a placement, and will chase a missing payment for you. If you are weighing up whether fostering could work alongside a job, we have written about balancing a full-time job with fostering, and about why we need more male foster carers.

Frequently asked questions

Do foster carers get paid between placements?

Not as a rule. The weekly fee is paid per child while a child is with you, which is why we talk honestly at assessment about how your household would manage a quiet spell.

Does fostering pay affect benefits?

It can, and it depends which benefits you claim and on your wider circumstances. Fostering income is treated differently from wages for some benefits. Check your own position with an adviser before you commit.

Can I foster and keep my job?

Often, depending on the child and your hours. Some carers drop to part-time. Others offer respite alongside full-time work.

Is the enhanced fee guaranteed?

No. It applies to placements needing a higher level of care and support, and it is agreed placement by placement, in writing, before you take the child.