What can I earn?

While fostering attracts people who want to make a change in the lives of children and young people, not far behind is the question of how much foster parents get paid.

As a Foster Parent, can you bring in enough money to make it a viable career choice?
The short answer is “yes.”

Becoming a foster parent and caring for a child who desperately needs you is its own reward but there are financial benefits as well. It’s not the same as being employed outside the home because as a foster parent, there is rarely time away from the role but if you are tired of the daily commute, have transferrable skills and have a real passion to make a difference, then fostering could really be for you.

How much Foster Parents are paid per week varies on a number of factors. This can include:

The needs of the child or young person in your care, the age of your foster child and the payments structures of the fostering service you chose to foster for.
The weekly fostering income is split into two distinct parts: The first exists as a support for foster parents and to help cover the costs of caring for a foster placement, including the cost for food, clothing, transport, etc.
The second part acts as a payment for foster parents hard work and dedication in providing their fostering service to a child/young person.

Each independent fostering service that partners with UC2F has a range of competitive payment structures and benefits. Foster parents are considered self-employed professionals and so are eligible to claim income tax relief benefits.

This generally means that foster parents with a single placement will not be required to pay any tax on any income received in a year – foster parents with two or more foster children need only pay a small amount of tax.