Views of carers and young people
Shaun – foster carer
‘I have kids who come to me who see their allowance as ‘my money’ and they think they deserve it. But they do not have any sense of its value. Then they say they want a pair of trainers that are “only” £120.‘They say “my social worker says I have to have this”. Some of them have a decent personal allowance which they expect regardless of behaviour. It all stops when they leave care. I estimate that with allowances, leisure and other (household) costs they could have £25,000 a year spent on them.’
Young people tend to realise after leaving care that more should have been done at an earlier age to ensure that there is a firm foundation for independent living.
Jerome - care leaver
'You should be learning about it from an early stage – especially the value of money and how you can stretch a pound. Growing towards independence, I had no clue about managing money. I moved into a hostel when I was 15 and it was a shock. I had to stretch £50 for all my weekly shopping and it was not a lot.‘
Amy - care leaver
‘When I was a 17 year old care leaver I didn’t have a clue what to do - I just wanted to buy DVDs and I didn’t realise you have to pay bills.’
Some foster carers, like Shaun, are aware of the need to help their fostered children learn about money.
Anne – foster carer
‘With both my own children and my fostered children I have tried to instil certain values – if they wanted something quite expensive they had to save up for half of it and we would pay the other half. When they were older they could do a paper round or babysit. If they borrowed money they always had to pay it back’.
