How Much Are Foster Parents Paid?

Foster carers receive a fee which consists of both a maintenance and reward component.

Carers can expect to earn between £22,620 and £32,500 per year (this includes both components) for one child which could increase to up to £97,500 for three children in placement (includes both fee components). As a Parent and Child foster carer you can earn up to £41,600 per year.

This fee excludes our Reward pathway programme which is an additional payment for the recognition of your commitment to your professional development, and support of your fellow foster carers and agency. Read more about our reward pathway here.

In addition, you will also receive a variety of benefits, such as a holiday, school holiday and clothing payments, and membership of Foster Talk where you can find hundreds of incredible discounts on family experiences and stores across the UK.

Fostering Allowances, Pay & Benefits

How Do The Fostering Payments Work?

The foster parent weekly payments are made up of two parts:

An allowance(maintenance) to cover the cost of caring for a child - such as for food, clothing, utilities, transport, pocket money, outings and activities
A professional fee to reward foster carers for their skills, hard work and commitment to caring for a vulnerable child

Ongoing personal development is important to our foster parents and so we designed a payment structure that rewards continuous professional growth. Find out more about our Reward Pathway.

Experienced Foster Parents

If you're joining Lighthouse as an experienced foster parent from another agency or local authority, you'll start on a higher fostering allowance, so long as you have more than 12 months of experience and have completed the core training.

As with all of our foster parents, you'll have the opportunity to progress further on our Reward pathway that recognises the completion of further training, including our 12-week specialist therapeutic training programme and Level 4 diploma in working with traumatised children. Also, we recognise your commitment to fostering by length of service and your support of the agency and fellow foster carers

Additional Benefits

Holiday allowance
Birthday allowances
20 nights respite allowance
School uniform allowance
Social events and celebrations
Reward pathway Scheme
Payment for Unused Respite*
Membership Foster talk inc discounts on family experiences and stores across uk
Training and development specific to your needs