Allowance & Benefits

Foster Carer Pay, Allowances & Benefits

Opening up your hearts and home to foster a child is a great and truly rewarding experience. You get to be part of a child's journey, creating memories in their own life story and changing their life for the better.

We recognise that making the decision to foster will allow you to make a great difference to young people who deserve a home while we support you 24/7. We understand fostering can be demanding at times and requires a full-time commitment, which is why we pay our foster carers a generous fostering allowance that helps to support the foster child while also acting as a reward for the carer, allowing them to focus on providing the best possible care to their foster child.

What will the Allowance Cover?

Your fostering allowance is two payments in one. One part covers your foster child(ren)'s living expenses, such as food, clothing, school uniform, school day trips, toiletries, entertainment costs and savings. It should also cover expenses such as heating and lighting. Your Empower Fostering social worker will explain this in more detail, but to reassure you, you will receive a generous fee whilst fostering with Empower Fostering.

Do I have to pay Tax and National Insurance
when I Foster?

All foster carers are classed as self-employed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and you'll earn weekly fostering allowance for each child or young person you look after. So when you become a Foster Carer, one of your first jobs will be registering yourself as 'self-employed'.

Once you're registered, you are automatically registered for Class 2 National Insurance Contributions.

The HMRC holds regular 'webinars' to explain tax and NI contributions for Foster Carers, which are popular and useful. They are easy to understand and will explain everything clearly. You can sign up to as many webinars as you wish and there is a support service for any questions.

How Much do Foster Carers Get Paid?

Tax Benefits

Foster Carers are often exempt from paying income tax on their fostering allowance in accordance with the government's Qualifying Care Relief.

Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/tax-arrangements