The pay freeze in Glasgow is pushing foster carers like me to breaking point

Being a foster carer is not the same as being a parent. You take in the most vulnerable children in our society with complex support needs that require specialist, round-the-clock care. But the work we do is so undervalued. Foster carers in Glasgow have seen a decade-long freeze on our pay and on childrens’ allowances and we have been pushed to breaking point.

As Glasgow City Council turns its attention to next year’s budget, we need them to remember our city’s most vulnerable children – and the people who care for them – and end the freeze.

I remember two young ones who didn’t even have the clothes on their back when they came to us. They were only wearing hospital scrubs because the clothes they had last worn had been ridden with lice. Glasgow City Council gave us just £100 to supply them with an entire wardrobe – underwear, nightwear, school uniform, shoes, trainers, gym kit, toys and books.

Becoming a foster carer is a baptism of fire. I always wanted to foster, but nothing can prepare you for being physically assaulted multiple times a day by a two-year-old. Or having an eight-year-old describe in graphic detail how he will cut your stomach open with a knife and “pull out your guts”. This is skilled care work which requires patience, knowledge – and above all, an ability to love any child who needs you.

Of course, the love comes for free, but the larger house you require for spare bedrooms or the larger car you require for all your car seats does not. Children in my care deserve money for swimming lessons, clubs, holidays – all things they’ve missed out on. On our current child allowance, carers can no longer afford any of these things.

As a foster care worker in Glasgow, I am paid £150 per week to be on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This has not changed in 13 years. After inflation, this is a real-terms pay cut of 30 per cent. On top of the fee, we are also provided with an allowance of £137.18 for children aged 0-4. That hasn’t changed in 9 years, equivalent to a 23 per cent allowance drop for the children.

The recentlandmark employment tribunal against Glasgow City Council confirmed foster carers Jimmy and Christine Johnstone were workers entitled to basic employment rights – this is what all foster carers deserve. Glasgow should not be allowed to claim to be a living wage employer while paying foster care workers sub-minimum wage.

Studies show 88 per cent of foster carers earn less than the national living wage, while 52 per cent of foster carers said they earned less than £4 per hour in fees. Nearly a quarter earned less than £1.70 per hour.

We are the only childcare professionals – including playworkers, teachers, teaching assistants and youth workers – who are expected to look after a child in their care 24 hours per day, seven days a week, yet we do so for poverty pay.

Some 60 percent of foster carers in Scotland report the allowances they receive do not cover the full cost of looking after a child, meaning most of us are subsidising the council, paying to support children in our care out of our own pockets. When my husband retired as a firefighter, we were forced to use his pension lump sum to subsidise our fostering. The Scottish government has been promising to introduce minimum allowances for over a decade – but we are still waiting.

When the pandemic hit, we were left to fend for ourselves with three children under five. In lockdown, the children could no longer go to nursery or even to the park, which is essential when you have any children with additional needs. We didn’t have a second to ourselves – with no chance to rest or decompress.

This pay crisis is forcing people away from fostering altogether. Between 2016 and 2019 the number foster carers in Scotland decreased by 9 per cent. This doesn’t even make financial sense, because the council then have to rely on significantly more expensive private providers to plug the gaps.

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Foster carers like us have decided to fight back in Glasgow. We have come together as part of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and we are asking for Glasgow City Council to recognise us and recognise the work we do as professionals.

We are fighting for an uplift in the child’s allowance by 23 per cent to bring it in line with inflation since 2012/2013, and to provide an annual increase to the fostering allowance in line with inflation going forward.

Every year we see our costs rise, but our fees stay the same. We see money taken away from the most vulnerable children in our society. These kids have been through so much already. It’s time for Glasgow City Council to step up to their responsibilities and give them the new start they deserve.