What is a fostering allowance?

A fostering allowance is a payment made to foster carers when they provide care for children in their homes. It is made up of two elements:

  • A maintenance allowance for each child
  • A foster carer fee

The maintenance allowance covers the costs of everything that you need to care for a child such as food, clothing, transport, personal items and household expenses. The fee part of the payment is effectively your salary for the time and skill dedicated to foster care.

TACT pay a generous fostering allowance to help make sure fostering is a viable choice for you and your family. It is also to reflect that foster carers are highly trained and skilled individuals. If you want to find out more about our fostering pay, please do not hesitate to contact our enquiry team. You can also see some examples of our fostering allowances below.

How much do foster parents get paid?

We’re often asked ‘How much do foster parents get paid?’ The total fostering allowance that you receive will vary based on a number of factors, including the type of foster care you are providing, the number or children that you care for and their age, as well as the complexity of their needs.

Here are some examples of foster carer pay, based on four fostering scenarios. The fee examples include both the weekly allowance and additional payments you will receive:

These are some examples of our fostering allowances/foster carer pay. Find out how much foster parents get paid.

As a foster carer, you are paid on a fortnightly basis, while you have a child in placement. It is important to consider that you will not be paid any fees or allowances for any period that you do not have a child in placement.

Are there other foster carer payments?

In addition to the weekly fees, TACT foster carers receive extra payments to help cover the cost of significant events that occur while children are in placement. We know that special occasions such as religious festivals (e.g. Eid, Diwali, Christmas etc.), the child’s birthday and school holidays can be expensive. As such, if you have children in placement over these periods you will receive additional payments to help cover the costs.

You will receive £150 per child, to help celebrate their birthday(s). Likewise, another payment of £150 per child will be made to celebrate an annual religious festival. You will also receive £91 per week (for 13 weeks each year) holiday allowance for each child in your care.

We also pay long service awards and a Refer a Friend fee (if you recommend someone who then goes on to be an approved foster carer with us).

In light of the current cost-of-living crisis, TACT have put in place a number of additional financial benefits to help their foster carers during this period. Read more about TACT’s Cost-Of-Living Support For Carers.