How much does a foster carer get paid? Read on to find the answer to this commonly asked question, featuring exact figures for salaries and tax allowance.
Fostering a child is an emotionally rewarding experience, but you are also entitled to remuneration to support a child or young person. At Capstone Foster Care, we ensure you have the financial information and guidance you need to positively influence the individuals you care for. Offering full transparency around fostering pay, taxes and benefits, we're here to help you understand how much foster parents get paid.
Whilst some may feel uncomfortable discussing pay, it’s important we destigmatise conversations about foster care allowances. After all, whilst fostering is a vocation, it is also a career.
At Capstone Foster Care, our foster carers can receive up to £44,720 per fostering arrangement, per year. For many people, this sum is also entirely tax-free!
As a foster carer, much of your time is dedicated to creating a safe environment for your foster child, which is why we provide a highly competitive fostering allowance to support your lifestyle, whether you’re a long or short-term carer.
But how is your fostering allowance calculated? Well, how much foster carers are paid per week depends on several factors, including:
Currently, the minimum weekly allowances set by the government for the 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 tax year, based on age and location alone, is as follows:
| Age | London | South East | Rest of England |
| 0-2 | £198 | £189 | £170 |
| 3-4 | £201 | £196 | £176 |
| 5-10 | £225 | £216 | £194 |
| 11-15 | £257 | £247 | £220 |
| 16-17 | £299 | £288 | £258 |
For more information about government guidelines, please consult the UK government website.
At Capstone, we facilitate a variety of foster care arrangements, with the aim to support as many children and young people as possible. As an Employee Ownership Trust, we’re also able to offer highly competitive rates for our foster carers.
Here is a financial breakdown of some of our fostering placements:
Total allowances for most of our standard arrangements, including respite payments, are over £450 per week, which would work out to be over £1,950 a month or £23,400 a year.
So, if you were to foster two children as part of a standard arrangement, you would receive over £46,800 per year.
The demand for support for foster children with complex requirements is growing. As a result, we have developed a long-standing, highly successful programme called MATTS. Providing carers with clinical support, additional training and resources to accommodate specialist therapeutic placements, fostering allowances for children and carers supported by MATTS are up to £650 per week.
Therefore, if you have a therapeutic placement for 12 months, your total income could be up to £33,800 per child.
Note: all necessary training for therapeutic foster care is provided by our team, meaning most of our carers are eligible to provide care under our MATTS service.
Fostering allowance for parent and child placements starts from £860 per week, to comfortably support you, the parent(s) and infant in your care. Though usually short-term, these placements are also incredibly rewarding.
Foster carers can expect to receive up to £13,760 for a 16-week parent and child placement to provide valuable support and guidance for parents raising their newborns or young children.
Want to learn about different foster care arrangements? Discover the various types of foster care placements available at Capstone, or contact a member of our team to learn more about each offer and its unique fostering allowance.
As with any career, it's important to understand how the payment process works and how often you can expect to be paid. However, as a fostering allowance is designed to support both you and the young person/people in your care, it’s also important to discuss what expenses are covered within each payment.
Unlike many jobs, as a foster carer, you aren’t limited to an annual salary paid at the end each month. Instead, you will receive weekly payments, based on your current placement(s).
Fostering allowances are designed to compensate carers for the cost of supporting a foster child, whilst also rewarding them for their time, skills and experience. But what exactly does your foster pay cover?
Fostering allowances should support you with the following expenses:
The remaining money is given for the commitment you have made as a foster carer by:
For support managing your fostering allowance, read our foster carer budgeting tips.
We’re often asked, “do foster carers pay income tax?”. In most cases, foster care income is tax-free, as carers are entitled to a specialist tax allowance called Qualifying Care Relief. Carers who qualify for care relief in the 2025 to 2026 tax year are entitled to:
Foster carers who support children under the age of 11 will receive an additional £415 of tax relief per week, per child. Foster carers supporting children and adults aged 11 or over will receive £495 of tax relief per week, per child. Read our guide on foster care and tax to learn more about tax exemptions for foster carers.
Thinking of fostering but have concerns about your government benefits? As a foster parent, you are still eligible to receive benefits, so this will not impact your application to become a carer. However, some of the benefits you receive could change once you become a foster carer. Benefits you could be entitled to as a foster parent include:
To learn more about fostering on benefits, read our guide "can you foster if you're on benefits?".
At Capstone Foster Care, we understand the importance of planning for your future. So, whilst foster parents are classed as self-employed, we still offer support and advice for financial planning.
Many of our foster carers opt to contribute to Class 2 National Insurance to secure their state pension, meaning once they turn 66 years old, they’re eligible to receive monthly pension payments. It’s important to note that if you foster over the age of 66, your fostering allowance will not impact your pension. Instead, you will be entitled to receive both sums in their entirety, which can help fund your lifestyle after retirement.
At Capstone Foster Care, our carers are at the heart of our community. We want to make your fostering experience as positive and rewarding as possible, so we work hard to ensure you have all the support and resources you may need.
In addition to our competitive fostering allowance, we also offer our carers:
To learn more about our extensive list of benefits, visit our Benefits of Fostering with Us page.
Yes, you can foster if you have experienced financial struggles in the past. However, you will need to provide evidence to show that you’re in a financially secure position now, to prove you can provide a stable home for a child.
As part of our commitment to support you with every aspect of your fostering journey, we regularly review our fostering allowances. In the past two years, our carers have received five increases to support them through the cost-of-living challenges we have all been experiencing.
As a foster carer, if your income falls within your qualifying care relief, you do not have to pay National Insurance. However, many foster carers voluntarily pay Class 2 National Insurance to secure state benefits, including state pensions and maternity allowance.
Yes, you will still receive your fostering payments if you have another job. Your foster care allowance is independent of your workplace salary and is granted to support the child in your care and to reward you for your skills, experience and ongoing support.
Respite payments are a type of fostering allowance specifically made to respite carers. The payments work the same way as any other fostering allowance; the only difference is the duration of the placement, as respite arrangements or short breaks can range from as little as a weekend to over a fortnight.
There’s no set salary for a foster carer as your allowance is calculated based on various criteria, including the type of placement, the age of the child in your care, and where you live. That said, when fostering with Capstone, foster carers can expect to receive upwards of £450 per week for our standard placements.
Start your foster care journey by filling out the enquiry form below. Alternatively, if you want to learn more about fostering pay or need additional advice on how much foster parents get paid, contact us on 0800 012 4004.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
