Fostering earnings and payments
We recognise the essential role foster carers play in supporting children in our community. In recognition of your dedication, we provide a financial package that covers the costs of fostering and acknowledges your valuable contribution.
Weekly payments
Our foster carer allowance consists of two parts:
1. Weekly Fostering Allowance
This allowance covers the costs of caring for a child, such as food, clothing, pocket money, increased household bills, and activities. The amount is based on the age of the child and follows the Government’s National Minimum Allowance rate and includes an additional amount for birthdays and religious festivals. All foster carers receive this payment, which is made per child per week.
Age group |
Weekly fostering allowance (per child) |
|---|---|
0 to 4 |
£175 |
5 to 10 |
£193 |
11 to 15 |
£222 |
16+ |
£260 |
2. Skill Level Fee
This fee is paid in addition to the Weekly Fostering Allowance and rewards you for your skills and experience. It is paid per child per week and increases as you progress through training and gain more experience.
- Level 1: You start receiving this fee after completing the Training, Support, and Development Standards (TSDS) workbook, a government requirement for all newly approved foster carers.
- Levels 2 and 3: With increased skills, knowledge, and experience you can progress to these higher levels, which come with higher payments.
Age 0-4 |
Age 5-7 |
Age 8+ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
£125 |
£150 |
£185 |
Level 2 |
£190 |
£190 |
£200 |
Level 3 |
£210 |
£210 |
£210 |
Total weekly payment per child
Age 0-4 |
Age 5-7 |
Age 8-10 |
Age 11-15 |
Age 16+ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
£300 |
£343 |
£378 |
£407 |
£445 |
Level 2 |
£365 |
£383 |
£393 |
£422 |
£460 |
Level 3 |
£385 |
£403 |
£403 |
£432 |
£470 |
Examples
- Rachel and Mohammed are Level 3 carers, fostering three siblings aged 16, 11, and 8. They receive £1,340 per week tax-free (equivalent to £69,680 per year). This includes £675 Weekly Fostering Allowance, £630 Skill Level Fee, and £35 16+ Allowance.
- Kate became a Level 2 carer after 1.5 years. She fosters one child aged 6 and receives £383 per week tax-free (equivalent to £19,916 per year). This includes £193 Weekly Fostering Allowance and £190 Skill Level Fee.
- John and Catherine became Level 3 carers after three years of fostering. They foster two young people, aged 16 and 17, both of whom have disabilities and receive the higher rate of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). They receive £1,130 per week tax-free (equivalent to £58,760 per year). This includes £520 Weekly Fostering Allowance, £420 Skill Level Fee, £120 Weekly Fostering Disability Allowance*, and £70 16+ Allowance*. In addition, the young people receive PIP.
*See below for more information about these payments.
Your first year of fostering
As a newly approved foster carer, you will initially receive the Weekly Fostering Allowance. Once you complete the TSDS workbook, you will progress to Skill Level 1, which will increase your earnings as you will also start receiving the Skill Level Fee. While you have up to one year to complete the workbook, we encourage you to do so sooner. We will provide full support to help you advance to Skill Level 1 as quickly as possible.
To assist you in your first year, we also offer the following bonuses:
- First Placement Bonus: When your first child is placed with you, in addition to the Weekly Fostering Allowance, you will receive a one-off £1,000 bonus.
- TSDS Completion Bonus: Upon completing the TSDS workbook, in addition to starting Skill Level 1 payments, you will receive a one-off £1,500 bonus.
Earnings in your first year (before completing your TSDS workbook
Completing the TSDS workbook will enable you to progress to Skill Level 1, which increases your earnings as detailed in the Total Weekly Payment per Child table above. These figures are based on each placement being 52 weeks.
TSDS completed in 3 months |
TSDS completed in 6 months |
TSDS completed in 9 months |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age of child |
1st child |
Each additional child |
1st child |
Each additional child |
1st child |
Each additional child |
0 to 4 |
£16,475 |
£13,975 |
£14,850 |
£12,350 |
£13,225 |
£10,725 |
5 to 7 |
£18,386 |
£15,886 |
£16,436 |
£13,936 |
£14,486 |
£11,986 |
8 to 10 |
£19,751 |
£17,251 |
£17,346 |
£14,846 |
£14,941 |
£12,441 |
11 to 15 |
£21,259 |
£18,759 |
£18,854 |
£16,354 |
£16,449 |
£13949 |
16+ |
£23,235 |
£20,735 |
£20,830 |
£18,330 |
£18,425 |
£15,925 |
Example:
Martin and Pedro are in their first year of fostering.
Two weeks after their approval, Martin and Pedro welcomed their first child, aged 11, into their home. They began receiving the £222 Weekly Fostering Allowance and received a one-off £1,000 bonus for their first placement.
After completing their TSDS workbook four months later, they advanced to Level 1. This progression increased their weekly payments to £407 per week (£222 Weekly Fostering Allowance and a £185 Skill Level 1 Fee). They also received a one-off £1,500 bonus for completing the TSDS.
Martin and Pedro aim to progress to Level 2 within the next 12 months, which will increase their weekly earnings to £422 per week.
Additional Payments for Foster Carers
Our additional payments include:
- Mileage Allowance: 45p per mile for journeys outside usual day-to-day activities.
- Weekly Disability Allowance: £40–£60 per child receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
- Weekly Allowance for Children Aged 16+: £35 per week.
- Setting-Up Grant: Up to £750 to help purchase equipment for your home.
- Child’s Yearly Holiday Allowance: £505–£755, depending on the child's age.
- Additional Support in some situations:
- £500 contribution towards the child's laptop.
- £300 towards the child's independent residential trip.
- Clothing allowance (up to £250) and uniform allowance (up to £187).
- Mandatory Training Compensation: £9 per hour.
Support Care
Support carers receive a pro-rata Weekly Fostering Allowance (excluding the birthday and religious festival allowances). After completing their TSDS workbook, they are eligible for a Skill Level Fee, with the opportunity to progress up to Skill Level 3, as mentioned above. They are also paid £9 per hour for meetings related to the supported child and mandatory training. Additional support is provided for activities, mileage, and a setting-up grant of up to £750 to help with purchasing equipment for their home.
Example:
Jan is a Level 1 carer providing support care for Rahanne, aged 16, and her sister Aisha, aged 9, who stay with him from Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm once a month.
Jan receives £260 for the two-night stay (£230 Support Care Allowance and £30 Activity Budget), along with compensation for any mileage incurred during the children's stay.
Short Breaks for Disabled Children
The Short Breaks Scheme is specifically designed to support disabled children, with payments recognising the skills and experience required to care for children with disabilities. Foster carers are paid £93.57 for an overnight period of care (up to 24 hours) and £10.80 per hour for additional hours or daytime care.
They are also paid £10.80 per hour for meetings related to the supported child and £9 per hour for mandatory training. Additional support is provided for activities, mileage, and a setting-up grant of up to £750 to help with purchasing equipment for their home.
Example:
Raheel is a Level 1 carer providing Short Break care for Luke, aged 16, who stays with him from Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm once a month.
He receives £207.14 for the two-night stay (£187.14 Short-Break Allowance and £20 Activity Budget), along with compensation for any mileage incurred during Luke’s stay.
Paid Holiday
Sheffield foster carers are entitled to up to 14 nights of holiday per year, during which they continue to receive the Skill Level Fee they are eligible for.
Welfare Benefits
If you are currently claiming welfare benefits, you are likely to continue receiving them while fostering. This is because the allowances and fees you receive from fostering are usually disregarded as income. Or only the taxable profit, which is often zero for foster carers, is considered when calculating your entitlement to benefits.
You can continue to receive Child Benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Carer’s Allowance (CA) in relation to other individuals in your care.
Foster carers are allowed one bedroom that will not be considered as under-occupied under the under-occupancy rules (commonly known as the ‘bedroom tax’) if they are claiming Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element, whether living in social or privately rented accommodation.
Depending on your circumstances, if you are not currently receiving benefits, you may become eligible for them when you start fostering.
For more information on the benefits foster carers are entitled to, please visit:
You can also use the free online benefits calculator developed by Turn2Us. By entering your household and financial details, you can find out which benefits you may be eligible to claim.
Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
Foster carers need to register as self-employed when they begin fostering and must file tax returns.
In their tax return, they can claim:
- A tax exemption of up to £19,360 per household, and
- Tax relief for every week they foster a child (£405 per child aged under 11 and £485 per child aged 11 and over).
This means that most carers do not pay tax on their earnings from foster care. For more information and a specific example of how this works, please visit: Help and support for foster parents in England: Tax arrangements - GOV.UK.
When foster carers register as self-employed, they also register for Class 2 NICs, which are £3.45 per week. If their taxable profit is £0 or below the Small Profit Threshold of £6,725 (as is often the case), they are not required to pay Class 2 NICs. They can then choose to:
- Do nothing
- Pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily
- Apply for National Insurance credits (Class 3 credit), which foster carers are entitled to for each week they are approved as a foster carer. A National Insurance credit counts towards their National Insurance record, which is required to qualify for certain welfare benefits and the State Pension.
When you start fostering with us, you will be entitled to free one-to-one support and advice from FosterTalk regarding this.