Considering a Mid-life Career Change? Why Fostering May Be the Right Choice for You

It is never too late to make a career change, no matter your age or how long you’ve worked at your current job. If your career isn’t leaving you satisfied or you are no longer happy in the job you chose in your 20s, it might be time for a mid-life career change. Becoming a foster carer is a rewarding job role, full of new experiences. Below we look at just a few reasons to consider fostering as a career.

You Have a Wealth of Experience

Becoming a foster carer as a mid-life career change is a great way to use the experience and skills you have gained throughout your life so far. Even if your previous career had nothing to do with caring for children, you are bound to have a wealth of experience and knowledge in handling all life has to offer.

If you have your own children who are getting ready to fly the nest, you will also have experience in raising them, which gives you a wide range of transferable skills for fostering and raising happy children. Don’t worry though, you don't need to have children to start a fostering career.

There Are So Many Children Who Need a Loving Home

Being placed into the care system is a confusing and scary time for any child. The importance of a loving home for a foster child is paramount, as you can provide stability during a difficult time in their lives. As a foster carer, you are choosing more than just a career; you are making a commitment to provide a loving home to children who need it most.

You Can Make a Big Difference

Have you been stuck at a desk or corporate job which is unfulfilling? If you want to start a career that can make a big difference, fostering is a fantastic choice. You can give foster children a supportive and loving home, where they can grow and find out who they are in a safe and caring environment. Watching a foster child make progress in your home is a truly enriching experience and one you won’t find sitting behind a desk all day.

You Will Get Fostering Benefits and Allowances

Fostering is a job, which means you will receive an allowance and other benefits to support yourself and the children in your care. You can also get tax relief as a foster carer, which means you will be exempted for the household for an amount of £18,140, plus an additional weekly allowance for each child in your care.

You can also get additional bonuses the longer you stay in the career, and your fostering allowance doesn’t affect any existing benefits. If you want to know more about the advice and financial support you can get whilst fostering, a foster agency like fosterplus.co.uk can help.

The loving home you provide is something that can stay with a foster child for life. If you want a career that can make a difference, comes with great benefits and allowances, and allows you to use your current life skills, consider becoming a foster carer.