Statutory Maternity Pay Calculator 2026-27

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks. The first 6 weeks are paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings (AWE) with no cap. The remaining 33 weeks are paid at the lower of £194.32 per week or 90% of your AWE. The final 13 weeks of the 52-week maternity leave entitlement are unpaid, although your job remains protected throughout. With average weekly earnings of £600, for example, the first 6 weeks pay £540 a week (£3,240 in total), the next 33 weeks pay £194.32 (£6,412.56), and the whole 39 weeks come to £9,652.56.

To qualify for SMP you must have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (the qualifying week), and your average earnings must be at least £129 per week (the Lower Earnings Limit). You must also give at least 28 days' notice and provide proof of pregnancy (MATB1 certificate). SMP is paid by your employer, who reclaims 92% of it from HMRC, or 109% if the business qualifies for Small Employers' Relief by having paid £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year.

SMP is treated as earnings, so income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions may still be deducted. This calculator shows your weekly SMP and the total for each stage of the 39-week period, so you can see the drop from the 90% weeks to the flat rate and plan around it. If your average weekly earnings are below £129, it shows SMP as £0 and estimates Maternity Allowance instead. Over the first 6 weeks, the £600 example works out at roughly £2,340 a month gross before those deductions.

Anyone who does not qualify for SMP, including the self-employed and people who have only recently started a job, can claim Maternity Allowance instead. It pays £194.32 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is less, for up to 39 weeks, so someone averaging £120 a week gets £108 a week, or £4,212 in total. Self-employed claimants get between £27 and £194.32 a week depending on their Class 2 National Insurance record, and someone who does unpaid work in a spouse's or civil partner's business can get £27 a week for up to 14 weeks. You apply to Jobcentre Plus on form MA1 from 26 weeks of pregnancy. To be eligible you must have worked, employed or self-employed, for 26 of the 66 weeks before the due date and, if employed, earned £30 or more a week in 13 of those weeks. There is no higher 90% period with Maternity Allowance, so higher earners lose more by falling short of the SMP conditions.

During maternity leave you can work up to 10 Keeping In Touch (KIT) days without affecting your SMP. Each day is paid on top of SMP at your normal rate, or whatever you and your employer agree. KIT days are voluntary on both sides, so neither party can insist on them, and they are typically used for training, team meetings or easing the return to work. Parents using Shared Parental Leave can each work up to 20 SPLIT days on the same basis, on top of the 10 KIT days.

Since 2015, parents have been able to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them through Shared Parental Leave, once the mother has taken her first 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave. Only the parent taking the leave has to meet the continuity test, having worked for the same employer continuously for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the due week, and earn at least £129 a week on average to get Statutory Shared Parental Pay. The other parent only has to pass the employment and earnings test: working, employed or self-employed, in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the due week and earning at least £390 in total across 13 of those weeks. Each block of leave needs 8 weeks' notice to the employer. A common pattern is for the mother to take 6-9 months and the father the remaining months once the child is older, which can suit families where the mother is the higher earner or wants to return to work sooner.