How much do foster carers get paid?

The National Minimum Allowance, region by region

Every local authority in England must pay at least the National Minimum Allowance (NMA) - it is a statutory floor, not a target, and many local authorities and most independent agencies pay above it.

The NMA is set in three regional bands, and within each band it rises with the child's age, because older children typically cost more to look after week to week.

These rates were uplifted by 3.55% for 2025/26, announced in January 2025, with a further 3.35% uplift announced for 2026/27 in January 2026. For the full history and what changed most recently, see our 2026 rates update and the National Minimum Allowance explained in full.

The Fostering Network separately campaigns for higher rates than the actual statutory NMA - figures like £251/week (0-4), £343/week (5-10) and £434/week (11+) for 2026/27 based on the Minimum Income Standard are a campaign ask, not what carers currently receive. We flag this distinction clearly because conflating a campaign figure with the real statutory rate is exactly the kind of misleading claim this site exists to avoid.

What independent fostering agencies pay

Independent fostering agencies (IFAs) generally pay more than the NMA, because their fee includes both the child's allowance and a reward element for the carer's time and skill, and this is one of the genuine differences between the local authority and IFA routes.

Sector-wide, the average IFA weekly fee is around £526, against roughly £499 at local authorities - a real but smaller gap than IFA marketing often implies.

Higher headline figures at the top of a range are usually reserved for the most complex placements, which carry proportionately more responsibility - a single £900 figure quoted without that context is the kind of cherry-picked ceiling this site won't repeat without the caveat attached.

Which route pays more in your specific case also depends on where you live and what kind of placement you're approved for - see our full, neutral comparison of councils and agencies.

Why this is not a salary

Every figure above is real, but none of it works like a wage.

Foster carers are only paid when they have a child placed with them - there is no retainer, no sick pay, no holiday pay and no pension, and payment stops the day a placement ends until another one begins.

One IFA interviewee in the Department for Education's own commissioned research described the reality plainly: fostering income works, in effect, "a bit like a zero-hours contract job." That's not this site editorialising - it's the assessment of someone inside the sector, cited in government-commissioned research.

Source: Ipsos UK / DfE, "Foster carer recruitment and conversion rates," July 2023, p.19 ↗

Most people who go on to foster do so alongside another form of income, savings, or a partner's earnings, at least at first - it's worth thinking about your household finances as a whole, not just the weekly figure in the table above.

Tax and benefits, in brief

Most foster carers pay no income tax on their fostering income, thanks to a specific relief called Qualifying Care Relief (QCR), which combines a fixed annual tax-free amount with a further tax-free amount per child, per week.

This is a genuine, useful tax position, but it isn't unlimited, and the detail depends on your total household income and how many children you foster in a year - this guide isn't a substitute for checking your own position with HMRC or a qualified accountant.

How fostering allowance interacts with other benefits you might receive is more case-specific still, and isn't something the sourced data behind this guide can state as a general figure honestly - if this applies to you, speak to the DWP or a benefits adviser before you rely on any number you see online, including this one.