The issue around foster parent pay and employment rights has been big news in the UK over recent years. In 2016 the first trade union for foster parents was established and an ongoing legal fight, headed by foster parent Sarah Anderson, to see foster parents given workers rights was started in 2017. Currently, the foster care workers bill is awaiting a response from parliament. One of the consequences of these issues being raised publicly has been the social media attention it has drawn.
Generally people are in support of foster parents. They recognise the important role that they play and believe they should be fairly compensated for it. However, a number of views are made that express concern. I want to use this post to address those points but I acknowledge from the start that I am biased in my opinions. After spending 8 years fostering, the way foster parents are treated is something that I feel really passionately about. In fact I chose to write this post instead of doing another video because I feared I’d end up ranting down the lens at you all! This post gets political…. you have been warned.
The Current Pay Situation for Foster Parents.
The minimum weekly allowance for foster parents legally is £129 – 226. This is dependent on the area in which you live and the age and needs of the child. Independent fostering agencies will typically pay up to £450pw per child. However, these figures are often advertised in a way that may be misleading. The money is not a salary. A large proportion of those payments are made for the care of the child and how the money is spent must be recorded and verified. This usually accounts for around half the money given. Nearly half the foster parents in the UK receive no income at all to recognise their professional role – all money is for the child.
Foster parents are required to be available to the child 24/7. Personally I was never paid more than £2 per hour for this level of commitment to a child. In the latter years (as our children’s behaviours improved) the money we were given to pay for their needs was appropriate. However, in the first five plus years it was not. During that time we were not offered any additional income (in fact the local authority expressly told us not to ask). So we met the needs of our three children by using all our savings, taking out a bank loan and twice remortgaging our home. My wife also increased her hours at work which made us more financially secure but, in honesty, I really needed her at home more to help out with the parenting challenges.
When I read comments expressing concern over increasing payments to foster parent they typically make 3 points. I’d like to address these now.
You Shouldn’t Get Paid To Parent.
When I was a support worker at a children’s home no-one ever told me I shouldn’t get paid to do my job. As a foster parent though I heard this a lot. Here’s the thing, both jobs essentially involve the same thing.
Support workers provide care for vulnerable young people. They manage difficult behaviours that stem from difficult emotional experiences. So do foster parents. Support works make daily records, ensure safer care plans are being followed, attend professional meetings, keep to government legislation, make assessments of risk, engage in regular training and liaise with all involved professionals. So do foster parents.
But there are differences too. Support worker can leave at the end of the shift and know that another childcare professional will take over the parenting role. Foster parent’s can’t. Support workers can go out several nights a week and get drunk with their friends if they want to. Foster parents can’t. Support workers can take at least 4 weeks paid annual leave. Foster parents typically are offered 2 weeks unpaid but only if respite placements can be found for their children. Support workers can call in sick. Foster parents can’t.
Foster parents are the only childcare professionals in the UK that have no legal right to fair payment. We wouldn’t expect teachers, social workers, youth workers, support workers, child-therapists, paediatric doctors or school lunchtime supervisors to work for free. Why would we expect that from people who work with our most needy children in their own homes 24/7?
Increasing Payments Would Attract the Wrong People.
Whatever the job role, there will always be people attracted to the money offered. This is inevitable in all careers. But I can tell you now that anyone who thinks fostering is easy money is not going to last long! Before they even start to earn a penny they will have to do the following:
- Get passed the most rigorous series of job interviews I have ever had.
- Win the approval of a panel of people.
- Give up their spare time to get medicals, write information for assessments etc
- Give up more time to have training.
- Wait for the matching process on any child to be done and approved by all professionals concerned.
Once they are fostering they will be subject to regular visits, unannounced visits and the need to prove through recordings, receipts, supervision, ongoing training and meeting attendance that they are doing the job they are being paid to do. Our systems for ensuring that foster parents have the child’s best interests at heart are pretty rigorous, thankfully. Research is clear that money is not the main motivation for people to foster and I personally can’t see an increase in payment changing this.
The flip side to this argument is that a higher payment would allow the right people to make a career switch. I’ve lost count of the number of child-care professionals with excellent potential as foster parents who haven’t become one because they believe they couldn’t afford to do so.
It Would Cost Our Government Too Much.
The UK’s finances are not in a great position. I get that. I know that we lack the financial resources to provide the services that we once did. However, I’m fed up of seeing the little guys blamed.
When teachers want more pay they are accused of bankrupting the education system. But it’s poor money management by the big guys and the higher incomes they are awarded that surely holds more of the blame?
When our nurses and junior doctors want more pay they are accused of bankrupting the health system. But isn’t it the decisions made by the big guys that hold the blame here too? Personally I’d much rather see more money given to the public services that benefit everyone than tax breaks given to the wealthy few.
It would cost a lot to pay foster parents the level of income their role deserves. But that’s nothing in comparison to what local authorities pay private organisations when they outsource placements for children. I’m going to say something now that will not be popular with some:
If you want to make money out of foster children in the UK, you don’t become a foster parent, you set up and run an independent fostering agency.
There is no cap on how much a individual or group of trustees can earn from running a foster agency. Where many are very ethical in their approach to doing so, there are others that are not. The fact is, and it’s hard to swallow, there are people in the UK making a lot of money off traumatised young people. Reading this article or this one which details some of the earnings made by individuals and organisations, made my blood boil.
I believe that the UK would save money by local authorities paying foster parents a fair salary if they fostered with them instead of an agency. I also think that a lot of foster parents would prefer this option. This article would suggest the same.
In conclusion, I clearly support the idea of fair payment for foster parents. I also support a move from self-employment to worker status and I will be blogging about that next week. If you wish to get involved more in campaigning for a range of issues affecting foster parents and their children then the campaign newsletter from The Fostering Network is a good place to start.
Disagree with what I have written here? Great. Please drop a comment below and we can engage in some healthy and respectful debate. Maybe you can change my mind? I’m very open to that.
For all you foster parents out there, know this:
With love to all those working for little or no pay,
Fi
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