Statutory Maternity Pay - How much Statutory Maternity Pay will I get?

Statutory Maternity Pay is paid at two different rates. During the first six weeks of your maternity leave, you will get 90% of your normal weekly pay before deductions. For the rest of your maternity leave, you will get £184.03, or 90% of your pay if that is less than £184.03

Statutory Maternity Pay lasts for 39 weeks.

You and your partner may be able to share leave and pay. If you don't use up all your Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay, and you go back to work, your partner may be able to take the remainder of the leave and claim your remaining statutory pay to look after your child. This is called Shared Parental Leave and Pay.

Remember, your employment contract might give you more maternity pay on top of Statutory Maternity Pay.

You can use the government’s Maternity Pay Calculator to work out how much you might get.

Benefit Cap

Statutory Maternity Pay is not included in the Benefit Cap which limits the total amount in some benefits that working-age people can receive.

How will I be paid Statutory Maternity Pay?

Your employer pays Statutory Maternity Pay in the same way and at the same time as your wages are normally paid, for example, weekly or monthly.

Your employer claims the money back from the Government. You do not have to pay back any Statutory Maternity Pay if you do not return to work.

If you leave your job or are let go after your Statutory Maternity Pay has started, your employer still has to continue paying you.

Statutory Maternity Pay and other benefits

Statutory Maternity Pay counts in full as earnings when calculating your entitlement to other means-tested benefits . For tax credits, £100 per week is ignored. Use our Benefits Calculator to check what you will be entitled to.

You can’t get Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance (MA) at the same time.

Shared Parental Leave and Pay

You may be able to get Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SSPP) with your spouse, civil partner or joint adopter.

See the Turn2us Shared Parental Leave and Pay guide for further details.