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Hello. I want to foster but just realised that if I am getting fostering allowance, it may stop/reduced my benefits - housing benefit for an example. Therefore I might not be able to afford to do it (we are just about surviving on the money now). Does the fostering allowance count as an "income"? or os this completely different?
I can't help with other benefits, but for tax credits we class foster carers as working full time which will entitle you to claim working tax credits, but we also input income as £0. As all income received from fostering we consider as expenses for the child/ren. So you would be better off from the TC point of view
The allowances are supposed to cover the cost of having a child and as such are not usually classed as income - you don't have to pay tax and they don't affect Income Support etc.
However I seem to remember that there was a strange rule regarding housing benefit as part of the allowance is towards housing costs, as it could be quite complicated for short term foster carers who had breaks between placements. Not sure who you could ask? What about your local authority fotering team?
Fostering allowances are disallowable - they don't count as income. So if you already claim income support then you're still entitled to income support. Fostering also counts as work, but for no income (doesn't matter how much of an allowance you get, they can't count it). So if you're claiming job seeker's allowance then it could be tricky as you would have to be available for work and you won't be if you are fostering.
Housing benefit it doesn't affect except that the child is invisible as well as the income. Which means that you may get a reduction if they say that you are living in a house with too many bedrooms.
Working Tax credit is fine - and child tax credits for any birth children but you can't claim child tax credits for fostered children. If you foster a child with disabilities though you can claim DLA for the child on top of the allowances and carers allowance yourself.
Allowances aren't classed as income whether you work for local authority or a private agency.It's only if you go over a ridiculously high amount of money. You are allowed to earn £10,000 per year per house + (dependent on a child's age) between £200 and £250 a week per fostered child before you would start to pay any tax. And then you have your tax allowance of £5000 odd pounds before you pay tax so it would have to be a significant amount of money earned before other things were affected. Hope that doesn't come across as complicated as I think it does!
contrary to beleif that fostering is good money it actually only covers you for the support of the child, ie their food, clothes, care/ clubs etc etc if you looking to earn money i would suggest employement outside the home. Fostering can be very rewarding but hard work, emoitionally drainig at times andit does limit your own lifestyle. However i know a family that have been doing it for years and their fostered kids are treating just as their own and they are one big happy family. Good luck if you decide to foster.
Re the above post... Fostering isn't something you would ever take on just to earn an income, as it takes real dedication, but it does pay more than just to cover food, clothes etc for the child. Fostering allowances/fees vary hugely but lowest I know of is about same as working full time on minimum wage but with fostering you may not pay tax on it. Be very aware that it doesn't matter whether private agency or local authority, if they officially call it an 'allowance', it won't affect benefits. If they call it a 'fee', it is taxable income.
As a lone parent, I couldn't have started fostering if it didn't cover more than expenses, as no matter how much I really want to help others, I still have bills to pay. So, if you're on benefits don't let it put you off fostering as you will be substantially better off, but be aware it will take over your life and can be extremely difficult at times. It's the little things that make it rewarding.
