Ms Clare Corridon:

This was all news to me. It was not until I had the opportunity to speak to more experienced foster carers that I discovered this was going to be a problem. I am a veterinarian by profession. I have a PhD and I gave up full-time employment to become a foster parent. There is so much going on. We were approved at the end of August 2020 and within a month we had our first placement. The child in our care had quite a lot of medical needs so that then became the priority - his medical care, his development and managing around the system. I must admit that pensions were probably the last thing on our mind. It is something we need to get a little bit more savvy about. Thankfully, my husband works full time but I gave up full-time employment to become a full-time carer. It very much depends on the needs of the child, as to how much time will be involved. An infant was placed with us so that was very much full time. It might have been different if it had been an older child. We did not know what to expect when we were approved. We were approved for children aged from zero to 17 in 11 months, so we did not know who we were going to get or even how many. People just do not know when they go into it as it is very much down to chance and timing.