One-Third of Foster Carers Considered Resigning Due to Lack of Living Wage

ONE-THIRD OF FOSTER CARERS CONSIDER GIVING UP DUE TO LACK OF LIVING WAGE

THURSDAY 4 MARCH 2010

ONE-THIRD OF foster carers have seriously thought about giving up fostering because they can no longer afford to continue, a charity is warning today.

In its new report, Love Fostering – Need Pay, the Fostering Network found that 36 per cent of foster carers have seriously considered leaving fostering because the fees do not provide a living wage. With an existing shortage of 10,000 foster carers and an ageing workforce, the prospect of an exodus from fostering is of extreme concern.

The report also reveals that three-quarters of foster carers surveyed earned less than £229.20 per week (at the time equivalent to the minimum wage for a 40-hour week), including approximately half who received no fees at all. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds (65 per cent) of foster carers think their fees are insufficient reward for the job.

As a result of poor payments, foster carers depend heavily on other sources of income. A third (34 per cent) of foster carers also have employment outside fostering, one in eight (13 per cent) foster carers or their partners receive one of the core means-tested state benefits for people of working age, and one in 11 (nine per cent) receive a state pension. However, three-fifths (62 per cent) said they are dependent on fostering income to meet household expenditure.

Increasingly today’s families are reliant on two incomes to pay the bills. The Fostering Network believes that foster carers who foster fulltime should receive a living wage as foster carers. As part of its Together for Change campaign, the charity is urging the governments of the UK to introduce legislation and funding as soon as possible to ensure that full-time foster carers receive at least the equivalent of the minimum wage. The Fostering Network is also calling for parity in the longer term with other groups in the children’s workforce, such as residential care workers.

Report author Madeleine Tearse said: “It’s simply unacceptable that so many foster carers are required to work for free or such low pay. Fostering has changed over the years, and foster carers are now expected to carry out skilled and demanding work to a professional standard, which should be recognised with professional rates of pay.

“Low pay is not helping fostering services to recruit and retain the numbers of foster carers needed - the resulting shortage of foster carers means that many children are not being found the right home first time, and are suffering from instability and disruption if they are subsequently moved. Also, it cannot be in the best interests of looked after children that many are placed in impoverished households.

“Individual fostering services determine their own pay rates. We are calling for decent pay across the board, but this will require support from national government administrations. “

ENDS ------For information, interviews or case studies contact 020 7620 6425 or media @ fostering.net

Notes to editors 1. Love Fostering – Need Pay is based on findings from over 2,100 foster carers who participated in a survey on a voluntary basis in 2009. It is available to download from https://www.fostering.net/resources/subjects/financial-matters

2. All foster carers receive an allowance to meet the costs of looking after a fostered child, but this is not designed to cover their own needs or those of their families. As a result, most fostering services now also pay a fee to at least some of their foster carers, but these vary widely.

3. The survey compares pay to the minimum wage in force for most of 2009 (£5.73 per hour or £229.20 for a 40-hour week for people aged 22 or over). In October 2009 this increased to £5.80 per hour or £232.00 for a 40-hour week.

4. Means tested state benefits providing core income to people of working age are Income Support, Job Seekers’ Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Employment Support Allowance.

5. The Age of Foster Care report, published by the Fostering Network in May 2009, found that two-thirds of foster carers are in their 50s, 60s and 70s. For more information, see www.fostering.net/resources

6. The shortage of foster carers means that too many children are moved from home to home, live miles from their friends and family and are split up from their brothers and sisters. The resulting disruption and instability can be extremely damaging to a child’s wellbeing, and to their longer-term ability to make and maintain relationships and educational progress.

7. There are just over 74,000 children in care in the UK on any given day. Of these, 70,000 are looked after away from home, with 53,000 (77 per cent) living with 43,000 foster families. The Fostering Network estimates that there is a shortage of 10,000 foster families.

8. The Fostering Network is the UK’s leading charity for all those involved in foster care. It exists to make life better for fostered children and those who care for them.

9. Together for Change is the Fostering Network’s campaign to make foster care work for every fostered child and every foster family. www.fostering.net/together-for-change