Is that £140 a week total? My LA pay a reward element to the foster carer (about £90p/w at first, more with training/experience) plus an allowance to cover the costs for the child (clothes, shoes, toys, etc. and also to cover your increased household bills such as food, electric, etc.).
I see fostering as a job. The hardest job I've done, that's for sure. That doesn't make me heartless or mercenary. You can't work if you have a young child who isn't at school yet. Apart from childcare you have to attend meetings, facilitate contact, attend training, etc. And even if a child is at a school, there are still meetings and training that you have to attend, and sometimes children who are school-refusers, excluded, skip school. I know some foster carers who work, but they tend to be ones who have older children who are with them long term and are settled in school, etc. Under 5s, the assumption is that you don't work. So, yes, you don't foster for the money, but of course you have to take money into consideration. The only reason I could afford to do it was because I don't have a mortgage. Rubbish really. Incredibly valuable and important job, working with our most vulnerable children but incredibly undervalued both financially and professionally.