Adopting and finances

[Pegs11]

Hi, just wondered if anyone knows what is the minimum income for adopting a child. Let’s say you’re a relatively low-income couple and it works out that you have around £800 a month to play with, once the bills have been paid. I just wondered if that would be considered by the adoption panel to be enough money to adopt a child? Thanks

There's no minimum income threshold, so long as you can pay your outgoings and have a little leftover then you're good to go. Our SW said she's approved people on min wage.

We did get turned down from a match because of finances but it turned out that they just needed a "reason" because they knew it wouldn't have been a good match, also they had got our salaries mixed up on the paperwork.

Yes, there's no minimum. The cost of raising a child, adopted or not, varies greatly. If you have more coming in than going out then that's a good start, but it depends what you mean by 'to play with'. You've said bills but what about food, car/transport, clothes and anything else you feel you need to maintain your standard of living, whether that's the gym, TV subscriptions, holidays, repairs or a take away latte every day. If you genuinely have £800 spare every month you'd be wise to start saving at least some of it if you don't have savings.

Have you considered how your earnings will be affected after a child is placed? One of you will need to take adoption leave and often social workers will be expecting you to take a year, which, depending on where you work, is unlikely to be a year on full pay. You'll also be asked about plans you could put in place if the needs of the child prevented you from returning to work. If you do return to work and you have a preschool age child, your greatest expense from that £800 will be childcare, even if you factor in funded hours. It depends on the individual provider but nursery bills can really sting and easily run into a few hundred pounds a month, depending on how many days they go.

My advice would be to go ahead with your application, if it's what you want to do, and you'll be able to explore this with your social worker. It does sound like you're in a reasonable position, but there are so many factors at play that you can't put a price on raising a child. Equally I'd urge you to start saving if you're able to as this will be seen very favourably and give you a buffer for what lies ahead.

Remember assuming neither of you are over 50k in salary you get child benefit, but that’s only £80 a month but it does help.

My feelings are that you end up finding the money to survive.... when I was childless I only managed to save £100 a month but now I have a child, even with childcare I am finding that I can still put away £100 a month. £800 is a fair amount for food - I would say you could manage childcare with that too. You would have a few months of toughness but assuming the youngest you could adopt is about 6 months, you’d have a year off where you could just eat beans and then you’d only have 6 months before you get the 15 funded hours when they are two.

You make it work I think - obviously it’s great you’ve thought about finances but if you started adding up everything I think you’d never have children........... as they are expensive!

Also if you have grandparents willing and able - then that’s also a fantastic help.....!

Thanks all, that is very helpful to know. I actually have some severe health conditions right now, so won’t be starting the process of trying to adopt unless or until I get better Ana remain well for long enough to know I’m ready to raise a child.

I do worry greatly about my medical history though, which is littered with mental and physical health issues. I do worry that even if I have, say, two good years with none of these issues recurring, they will still consider me unfit when they take a look at my long term medical records ... 😕