How Much Do Kinship Carers Get Paid in England?

There is no single answer to how much kinship carers get paid in England because the amount depends almost entirely on one thing: the legal arrangement under which you care for the child. An informal carer claiming national benefits might receive a few hundred pounds a month, while a special guardian in one of the seven Kinship Zone pilot councils could receive over £200 a week on top of those same benefits.

Here is what each arrangement unlocks and who actually pays.

Payments by Legal Arrangement

Informal Care (No Court Order)

If you are raising a relative's child through a family agreement with no court involvement, regular support usually comes from national benefits. Your local council has no obligation to pay you an ongoing allowance, though it may offer discretionary Section 17 emergency help.

What you can claim:

• Child Benefit from HMRC — £27.05 per week for the first child, £17.90 for each additional child (2026/27 rates)
• Universal Credit child element from DWP — £303.94 per month per child (or £351.88 if the child was born before April 2017)
• Section 17 emergency help from your council — one-off payments for beds, clothing or school costs, but these are discretionary and not guaranteed

A single informal carer over 25 with one child could receive up to roughly £729 per month from the UC standard allowance and child element (£424.90 plus £303.94), before earnings, capital or other deductions, plus Child Benefit of around £117 per month. That is approximately £846 per month before any other elements like housing.

Special Guardianship Order (SGO)

An SGO unlocks the most comprehensive financial support. Your council has a legal duty to assess whether you need an allowance under Section 14F of the Children Act 1989.

The SGO allowance calculation starts with the council's fostering rate for the child's age, then deducts the Child Benefit and UC child element you already receive, and finally applies a means test against your household income. The net result varies widely between councils and households; there is no standard SGO allowance amount.

On top of this, you still claim Child Benefit, Universal Credit (with the SGO allowance fully disregarded as income), and potentially Guardian's Allowance if both parents have died.

Child Arrangements Order (CAO)

A "lives with" CAO gives you shared parental responsibility, but the council's financial obligation is weaker than for an SGO. If the child was looked after by the council before the order, many councils will pay an allowance similar to their SGO scheme. If the child came to you informally, council payments are discretionary and many councils offer nothing.

You still claim the same national benefits — Child Benefit, UC child element, and Guardian's Allowance if eligible.

Kinship Zone Pilot (7 Councils Only)

If you live in Bexley, Bolton, Medway, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Thurrock or Wiltshire and hold an SGO or a "lives with" CAO (or are in proceedings toward one), and the child meets the pilot's "otherwise in care" threshold, you may qualify for the Kinship Zone pilot allowance. This is a non-means-tested weekly payment matching the national minimum fostering allowance — ranging from £176 to £267 per week depending on the child's age (Wiltshire's 2026/27 rates).

The pilot allowance is fully disregarded for Universal Credit, so you keep it on top of all national benefits. It is also tax-free.

Kinship Foster Carer (Section 20/31)

If the child is formally looked after by the council and you are approved as a kinship foster carer, you receive a fostering allowance at or above the national minimum rate. However, you cannot claim Child Benefit or the UC child element — the council's allowance replaces those.

What This Means in Practice

A grandparent with an eligible SGO in a pilot area could receive the local pilot allowance; at Wiltshire's 2026/27 rates, this is roughly £760–£1,160 per month depending on the child's age. They may also receive Child Benefit (£117 per month), Universal Credit with child elements, and, if eligible, ASGSF therapy support. A grandparent with no court order outside the pilot areas may still claim national benefits and request discretionary Section 17 help, but has no automatic right to an ongoing council allowance.

The gap between the best and worst case is significant — and the difference is usually whether you have a court order, not whether you need the money.

Getting the Full Picture

Our England kinship financial help guide maps every payment to the legal arrangement that unlocks it, with the exact forms, deadlines and means-test calculations so you can work out what your household should receive. It includes a payment interaction matrix showing how each allowance affects the others — because the council deducts some benefits from your allowance while fully disregarding others.

See more England guides →