Fostering allowance
Scotland
How much are foster carers paid in Scotland?
We offer a generous foster care allowance to our foster carers in Scotland to cover the cost of caring for children and reward them with a professional fee for their hard work and dedication.
Once you’re approved with Fosterplus and have a child placed with you, you’ll receive a fostering allowance that’s between £24,104 and £29,778 per child, per year. The fostering allowance is generally tax-free for most foster carers and does not affect any benefits you receive.
We also offer bonus payments and allowances for things like holidays and special occasions, paid respite, and pay increases.
If you have any questions, or would like more information on fostering with us, please get in touch with our team.
Foster care pay examples
Jean cares for a young boy, aged seven. She receives £463.54 per week.
Cameron cares for a twelve-year-old girl with complex needs. He receives £572.67 per week.
Aileen and Richard care for two brothers. They receive £891.73 per week.
What does the foster carer pay cover?
Foster carers receive a weekly allowance from their local authority or independent fostering agency. This allowance is split into two parts – the child’s allowance and your professional payment.
Child allowance
The first part of the fostering allowance is to cover the cost of the child in your care, paying for things like food, drink, clothing, activities and hobbies, pocket money and more.
A professional fee
The second part is a professional fee that rewards you for your hard work and dedication in your role as a foster carer. Foster carers are a vital support for children in care and it’s important that your work is recognised as a career and you’re remunerated accordingly, so you can continue making an extraordinary difference to children.
Our benefits
In addition to your fostering payments, you’ll also benefit from our discount and rewards platform, The Exchange, where you can find hundreds of offers and discounts for family days out, shops, restaurants and more.
You’ll also have the opportunity to earn money for successfully recommending friends and family to Fosterplus through our exclusive Refer-a-Friend scheme.
Great rewards and benefits for foster carers
All of our foster carers have access to our exclusive rewards programme, which offers families discounts for popular high-street retailers, restaurants and days out, and even holidays! It is just one of the many ways we give back to our incredible foster families...
Can I continue to work while fostering?
Many of our foster carers continue to work alongside fostering, however, it does depend on your individual circumstances and your ability to meet the needs of a child in your care.
If you would like to know more about continuing to work, we recommend speaking to one of our friendly advisors who will give you advice that’s tailored to your situation.
Some of the points they might discuss with you include:
- Will you be fostering as a single carer or with a partner?
- What are your working days / hours?
- Will you be available outside of school hours and during school holidays?
- Is your employer flexible and ‘fostering friendly’?
- Do you have close friends and family who would be able to help in an emergency?
Find out more about working and fostering below.
You may be interested in...
Tax
If you're caring for one child and have no other income, your fostering allowance is generally completely tax-free due to specialist tax rules granted by HMRC.
Read More
National Insurance
As income from fostering is generally tax-free, you shouldn't need to pay National Insurance. You may wish to make voluntary contributions to secure state benefits.
Read More
Benefits
The allowance you receive from fostering isn't counted towards your eligibility for means-tested benefits and so you should still be able to claim them.
Read MoreFoster care pay in Scotland summary
We know there’s a lot of information to take in, so here’s a summary of some of the most important things to remember about foster carer pay…
- You’ll receive a weekly fostering allowance that’s around £24,104 - £29,778 per year, for each child in your care
- You’ll only receive your foster care payments when a child is placed with you
- The foster carers allowance in Scotland is generally tax-free – learn more about fostering and taxes
- Foster carers are self-employed and will need to complete a tax return each year
- Foster care payments shouldn’t affect your state benefits – learn more about fostering and benefits
- Generally, foster carers don’t need to pay National Insurance, however, you may decide to make voluntary contributions – learn more about fostering and National Insurance
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Can't find what you're looking for?
By phone
One of our team is available to talk to you over the phone to answer any of your fostering queries.
Enquire online
You can get in touch by filling out our online enquiry form with any queries that you may have.
Your local team
Find contact details for your local office team. We’re always happy for you to pop-in and chat.