Fostering and Universal Credit/Benefits: What changes?

Updated for the current rules in England (September 2025). Always check your own award letter and speak to a benefits adviser if anything on your claim looks off.

The short version

If you foster, the money you’re paid for fostering (the allowance and any fee) is ignored when Universal Credit (UC) is worked out. You usually can’t get the UC child element or Child Benefit for a foster child, but you can still get UC for yourself and for your own children. Housing and work-search rules are tailored for foster carers, and there’s a specific extra bedroom rule for UC housing costs.

Are fostering payments counted as income for UC?

No. Payments you receive because you foster are disregarded when DWP calculates your Universal Credit. That includes the fostering allowance and any skill-based fee. In plain English: those payments won’t reduce your UC. If you have other income (like wages or rental income), those can still affect UC in the usual way.

Two extra clarifications:

• UC and self-employment: Foster care isn’t treated as “self-employment” for UC, and you don’t report fostering allowances through the self-employed route for UC.
• Tax vs UC: HMRC’s Qualifying Care Relief is tax guidance (how your fostering income is taxed). UC is separate and already ignores fostering payments. Don’t mix the two systems up.

Can you get the UC child element or Child Benefit for a foster child?

Universal Credit child element: You can’t get the child element for a child you’re fostering. You can still get the child element for your own children (and adopted children) who meet the normal UC rules.

Child Benefit: You generally can’t get Child Benefit for a foster child if the local authority is paying for their accommodation/maintenance. (This is why the fostering allowance exists.) If you’re unsure about a specific arrangement, ask your council before claiming.

Disabled child additions & childcare costs: Because you can’t get the child element for a foster child, you also can’t get the disabled child addition or childcare costs element of UC for that foster child. (Those additions sit inside the child element.)

What about the UC carer element or Carer’s Allowance?

Different story. If a foster child gets DLA (care) or PIP (daily living) and you provide 35+ hours of care, you may be able to claim Carer’s Allowance and/or the UC carer element—subject to the usual rules (e.g., overlapping benefits and earnings thresholds). The fact you’re a foster carer doesn’t automatically stop you from qualifying as a carer for a disabled person. Always check the criteria for your case.

Work-related requirements (conditionality) for foster carers

UC puts claimants into “work-related groups.” Foster carers are treated as responsible carers for conditionality, and DWP will normally ask a fostering couple to nominate a lead carer for the placement so requirements can be tailored. Key points:

• Child under 1 in placement (lead carer): No work-related requirements.
• Child aged 1–16 in placement (lead carer): Usually the Work-Focused Interview regime (light-touch), tailored around the child’s needs and your fostering role.
• Between placements (single or nominated carer): There’s an established easement—typically up to 8 weeks without full work-search requirements, if you show you intend to continue fostering and are available for a new match. (Think of it as time to secure your next placement.)
• Tailoring: Work coaches can “switch off” or reduce requirements temporarily where needed, and your Claimant Commitment should reflect this. Keep your fostering status and placement dates up to date.

Tip: Bring proof of approval and placement letters to your UC appointments so your work coach can set the right regime from day one.

Housing costs and the “spare bedroom” rule

If you get the housing costs element in UC, the size-criteria rules (often called the “bedroom tax”) matter. For foster carers:

• You’re allowed one extra bedroom for fostering under UC/Housing Benefit size rules—even if no child is currently placed, provided you were approved or had a placement within the last 12 months.
• It’s one extra bedroom total, regardless of the number or sex of foster children (separate rules apply for overnight carers/medical needs, which can add additional bedrooms in some cases).
• If you have spare rooms beyond what the rules allow, your eligible rent is usually reduced (14% for one extra room; 25% for two or more). Discretionary Housing Payments (from the council) can sometimes bridge shortfalls.

How UC treats other income and your family

• Other earnings: Wages from a job (or non-fostering self-employment) still follow normal UC rules (work allowance, tapers, Minimum Income Floor if you’re gainfully self-employed). Fostering payments remain ignored.
• Your own children: You can still receive UC child elements for your biological or adopted children living with you, including any disabled child additions that apply to them.
• Benefit cap: If you get a disabled child addition for one of your own children, the UC benefit cap doesn’t apply. This doesn’t extend to a foster child, because there’s no UC child element for them.

Kinship and “family & friends” foster carers

If you’re a kinship (connected persons) foster carer for a looked-after child, UC rules on the child element are the same—you usually can’t get the child element for that looked-after child, and childcare-cost support under UC won’t apply for them because it’s tied to the child element. (This is separate from any local kinship allowances.)

The DWP also recognises work-search easements for family & friends carers during the first year of a placement—speak to your work coach to ensure your Claimant Commitment reflects that.

What to tell UC (and what to keep)

• Report that you are an approved foster carer and when placements start/finish, so conditionality and housing rules are set correctly.
• Keep: approval letter, latest placement agreement, and any correspondence confirming you fostered or were approved within the last 52 weeks (for the bedroom rule).
• Don’t report fostering allowances as UC income or self-employed earnings.

Common scenarios (quick answers)

“We’re a couple—do both of us have work requirements?”
DWP asks couples to nominate a lead carer for the foster child. The lead carer’s requirements are tailored (or switched off, depending on the child’s age/needs). The partner may have different requirements depending on the household’s circumstances.

“We don’t have a placement right now—do we lose our extra bedroom?”
Not immediately. The rules allow one extra bedroom if you’re approved or have had a placement within the last 12 months. Keep proof of approval/last placement handy.

“Can we claim for childcare costs for a foster child so we can work more hours?”
Generally no—UC’s childcare element is only payable for a child you receive the UC child element for, which excludes a looked-after foster child.

“Our foster child is disabled—can we get extra UC?”
You can’t get the disabled child addition (it sits within the child element you can’t claim for a foster child). But you might qualify for Carer’s Allowance and/or the UC carer element if disability-benefit criteria and care hours are met.

Practical checklist for foster carers on UC

1. Tell UC you’re an approved foster carer and log placement dates.
2. Check your UC statement: fostering allowance not listed as income; no child element for the foster child.
3. Nominate the lead carer (if a couple) and get conditionality tailored correctly (e.g., “no requirements” for under-1 placements).
4. Housing costs: confirm the extra bedroom has been allowed (and keep approval/placement proof for the 12-month rule).
5. If caring for a disabled foster child: check Carer’s Allowance/UC carer element eligibility.
6. Between placements: note the easement period and keep in touch with your work coach while seeking a new match.

Key takeaways

• Fostering allowance/fees are ignored for UC; don’t report them as UC income.
• You can’t get the UC child element or Child Benefit for a foster child, but you can for your own children.
• Work requirements are tailored for foster carers (including no requirements where the lead carer has a child under 1 in placement). Between placements, an easement generally applies.
• Housing costs: one extra bedroom is allowed for foster carers under UC size rules if approved/placed within the last 52 weeks.