About Us

The Foster Care Workers Union is a branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. We were established in 2016 as the first ever union for foster care workers, and we are the only union for foster carers that’s led and run by foster carers. Since 2016 we have continued to break new ground, campaigning for rights, better fees, conditions, and respect for foster carers across the UK. We believe that foster carers who are respected and supported will provide the best possible care for young people.

We are a branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, meaning our branch benefits for connections with workers across many sectors, who bolster our campaigns for improvements and from whose experiences and victories we can learn.

Foster carers play a vital role within the social care system, working 24/7 to provide a supportive and nurturing environment for young people when they are unable to stay with their birth families. The number of young people going into care in the UK is continuing to rise, yet we are seeing a retention and recruitment crisis as overstretched, underpaid and unsupported carers are driven out of the system.

Making Change:

Our union is winning real change for foster carers, winning respect for our role and building towards a better and fairer foster care system for all.

Individually: We have a team of experienced caseworkers and representatives who are ready to provide you with individual support when you need it through issues such as allegations, de-registrations and much more. You can also benefit from peer-to-peer support, and access to a national community of foster carers learning, and supporting each other through the many challenges of fostering.

Locally: Local Authorities and Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs) exercise a huge amount of control over our fostering conditions and daily lives. That’s why carers are uniting with colleagues in their area to ensure everyone has fairer pay, conditions and a meaningful voice.

Nationally: We are campaigning for national protections and rights that would improve the lives of every foster carer in the country, meeting with UK government and advocating for the improvements our members want. Limb B worker status and a National Register for Foster Carers are amongst the demands on our proposed Foster Carers’ Bill of Rights. Read the full bill here.

We have won landmark legal cases:

In 2019 we proved in court that a group of Glasgow-based foster carers are workers, paving the way for increased protections and rights for all foster carers.
In April 2021, we were part of a court case proving foster carers are workers for the purposes of trade union recognition – a vital first step toward securing better conditions and a fairer system.

Our members have campaigned for and won many improvements including:

Increased fees and allowances that have ended decade-long freezes;
A Scotland-wide rise in childcare allowances;
£200,000 more funding for foster carers in North Yorkshire;
Forums and consultations for foster carers to be listened to by both local and national decision makers;.
The reversal of unfair reductions in allowances
Creating an All-Party Parliamentary Group to make sure the issues foster carers face, and changes that are needed are heard by the UK Government.

We are a democratic, member-led union, run by a committee of foster carers elected annually who oversee the running of the branch, and understand the issues foster carers face. The current committee has representatives from across all four UK nations.

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