Maternity pay calculator
Work out your Statutory Maternity Pay from your due date and pay: 90% of your average weekly pay for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% for 33 weeks, with the dates that decide whether you qualify.
- Statutory Maternity Pay over 39 weeks, before tax
- £9,528.00
- £30,000 a year ÷ 52 is £576.92 a week on average.
- Weeks 1 to 6, 11 April 2027 to 22 May 2027£519.24 a week, 90% of your average weekly pay
- £3,115.44
- Weeks 7 to 39, to 8 January 2028£194.32 a week, the standard rate for 2026 to 2027
- £6,412.56
SMP usually goes up each April. Weeks from April 2027 are worked out at the 2026 to 2027 rate until the new rate is set, so the real total is likely to be a little higher.
Dates that matter
- Week your baby is due
- 25 April 2027 to 1 May 2027
- Qualifying week
- 10 January 2027 to 16 January 2027
- Started with your employer by
- Saturday 25 July 2026
- Tell your employer by
- Saturday 16 January 2027
- Earliest your leave can start
- Sunday 7 February 2027
Your employer works out your average weekly pay from what you earned before tax over an 8-week period before your qualifying week. To get SMP you also need to have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks into that week and to earn at least £129 a week on average (2026 to 2027). SMP is paid like your wages, with tax and National Insurance taken off. Rates from GOV.UK.
How much SMP you get
Statutory Maternity Pay lasts up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks you get 90% of your average weekly pay before tax. For the next 33 weeks you get £194.32 a week, or 90% of your average if that’s less. On a £30,000 salary that’s £519.24 a week for 6 weeks and then £194.32 a week, £9,528 in all. It’s paid like your wages, with tax and National Insurance taken off.
Maternity leave can last 52 weeks, so if you take all of it, the last 13 weeks are unpaid unless your employer pays more.
Who qualifies
To get SMP you need to:
- earn at least £129 a week on average (for 2026 to 2027)
- have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the qualifying week, the 15th week before the week your baby is due
- give your employer the right notice and proof that you’re pregnant
If you don’t qualify, your employer must give you form SMP1 explaining why, and you may be able to get Maternity Allowance instead. Maternity leave itself doesn’t depend on how long you’ve worked there or what you earn.
Dates and notice
At least 15 weeks before your due date, tell your employer when the baby is due and when you want your leave to start. The earliest it can usually start is 11 weeks before the week your baby is due. Give at least 28 days’ notice of the day you want SMP to start. Your employer then has 28 days to confirm how much you’ll get and when it starts and stops.
The week your baby is due runs from Sunday to Saturday, which is why the qualifying week and the other dates in the calculator start on a Sunday or end on a Saturday.