The short answer
- No, the household provides itA live-in carer eats what your relative eats. Providing that food is part of having someone live in, not something the carer buys for themselves.
- Budget about £5–£10 a day extraOn top of what you already spend, since the carer shares meals with your relative rather than adding a second, separate shop.
- Add it to the shop, or hand over a budgetBoth work well. Increasing the usual delivery is simplest; a fixed weekly amount or a carer shopping card suits dietary needs or a carer who prefers to choose.
- It isn't taken out of the carer's payFood and a room used to be set against pay for some live-in domestic workers. That rule ended in 2024, and it never applied to carers on PrimeCarers, who are self-employed and set their own rate.
The £5–£10 a day figure is PrimeCarers guidance for live-in placements, checked September 2026, the same figure used on the cost of live-in care guide.
The short answer
No, food comes with having a carer live in your home
A live-in carer moves into your relative's home and shares their days, mealtimes included, so feeding them works the same way as feeding a lodger or a family member who lives there. It is not something the carer buys separately, and it is not taken out of their pay either.
Live-in care differs from an hourly visit in exactly this way. A carer covering a two-hour visit goes home for lunch; a live-in carer is there for every meal your relative eats, seven days a week. How live-in care works sets out the wider shape of the arrangement; this page is about the one practical question of who buys the food.
What’s already in the weekly rate
- The carer’s own pay, the figure agreed on their profile
- Insurance while they work in your home
- The contract, invoicing and payment handling
- Continuous DBS monitoring for as long as they are placed
What you budget on top
- Carer's food
- £5–£10 a day
- Your carer shares meals with your loved one, so budget it with the weekly shop.
- Mileage
- 55p a mile
- Outings & events
- At cost
- Waking nights
- £148 a night
Some older advice about live-in care assumed a carer could be paid less than the minimum wage because their food and a room were provided instead of part of their wage, an exemption that applied to some live-in domestic workers treated as part of the household. Parliament removed that exemption from 1 April 2024, so any employed live-in worker it once covered must now be paid at least the minimum wage regardless of food or lodging. It does not affect carers found through PrimeCarers in any case, because they are self-employed and agree their own weekly rate directly with the family rather than being paid a wage by them. What are live-in carers entitled to? goes through what self-employed status does and does not mean for a carer living in your home.
Arranging the food budget
Add it to the shop, or agree a separate budget
There are two straightforward ways to cover a carer's food, and most families pick whichever fits how they already shop.
| How it works | Best for | |
|---|---|---|
| Add to the weekly shop | Increase the usual supermarket delivery or shopping trip to cover an extra person, and ask the carer if there is anything they would like included. | Families who already order a weekly shop and want one list rather than two. |
| Give the carer a budget | Hand over roughly £5–£10 a day in cash or on a carer shopping card for the carer to buy what they need themselves. | A carer with their own dietary needs, or one who is also doing the food shopping for your relative and needs a larger, combined budget. |
Add to the weekly shop
- How it works
- Increase the usual supermarket delivery or shopping trip to cover an extra person, and ask the carer if there is anything they would like included.
- Best for
- Families who already order a weekly shop and want one list rather than two.
Give the carer a budget
- How it works
- Hand over roughly £5–£10 a day in cash or on a carer shopping card for the carer to buy what they need themselves.
- Best for
- A carer with their own dietary needs, or one who is also doing the food shopping for your relative and needs a larger, combined budget.
Whichever you choose, agree it before the carer moves in rather than leaving it to work itself out in the first week.
A carer shopping card is the tidiest version of the second option. It keeps the carer's food spending separate from your relative's own account and gives you a running total rather than a stack of receipts. If your relative is on a special diet, tell the carer before the first shop, since it is easier to plan meals around it from day one than to change course later. What does a live-in carer need? covers the other practicalities worth settling before day one, from a bedroom to broadband.
Who does the shopping
Carer trips out, online orders, or the family, often all three
Providing the food is a separate question from who physically buys it, and most households end up mixing the three approaches rather than picking one.
A shopping trip with the carer
Online orders the carer places
The family does the shop
None of this needs deciding in advance. Most families settle on a mix once they see how the first fortnight goes, and it is easy to change if it is not working.
Cooking and ready meals
Most carers cook from scratch, and ready meals help on the hardest days
Buying the food is one question; who cooks it is a related one, and cooking is one of the tasks most live-in carers expect to take on as part of the role.
What most carers manage
When a ready meal helps instead
Keeping a few good ready meals in the freezer for these moments is common practice rather than a sign anything has gone wrong, and it is worth mentioning at interview if cooking matters to you. Do live-in carers do housework? covers where cooking sits alongside the rest of the household tasks a carer takes on.
Questions
Questions families ask about a live-in carer's food
In effect, yes, though not as a deduction from anyone's pay. A live-in carer shares meals with your relative, so the household provides the food, usually by adding a bit more to the weekly shop or agreeing a small separate budget. Budget roughly £5–£10 a day on top of what you already spend.
Around £5–£10 a day, on top of the usual weekly shop for your relative. It runs higher if the carer is also doing the shopping and cooking for both of them, since that budget covers two people's meals rather than one extra. The cost of live-in care sets this alongside the carer's own weekly rate.
Yes. Petty cash or a carer shopping card both work, and either can be simpler than folding a carer's preferences into a shop built around your relative. Agree the amount and how often it is topped up before the carer moves in.
Most do, and cooking a meal from ingredients is one of the everyday tasks a live-in carer expects to take on. It can be harder on a day when your relative needs constant attention, so keeping a few ready meals in reserve for those moments is normal rather than a sign of a problem.
No. A rule once let some live-in domestic workers be paid less than the minimum wage in exchange for a room and food, and it was removed on 1 April 2024, so it no longer applies to anyone. It never applied to carers found through PrimeCarers regardless, because they are self-employed and agree their own weekly rate directly with the family. What are live-in carers entitled to? covers this in full.
Tell the carer before the first shop or the first meal, ideally at interview stage if the diet is strict. Most carers on PrimeCarers are used to cooking around dietary needs, from diabetic diets to texture-modified food after a swallowing assessment, and it is easier to plan for from day one than to change course later.