Statutory Maternity Pay 2025: How It Is Calculated and What You Receive Each Week

Statutory maternity pay is one of those entitlements that most people assume they understand until they actually try to work it out. The rules are specific, the reference periods matter enormously, and a few small differences in your pay during the eight weeks before your qualifying week can change your total SMP by hundreds of pounds. Getting the numbers right before you go on leave is worth the effort.

This guide walks through how SMP is calculated in 2025/26, what you need to qualify, how the two payment phases work, and what happens if you do not meet the eligibility conditions. For a precise figure based on your own salary, use our maternity pay calculator to get a week-by-week breakdown.

Who qualifies for statutory maternity pay

SMP is paid by your employer, not the government directly. To qualify you need to meet three conditions at the same time. You must have worked for the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks up to and including the 15th week before your baby is due (this is called the qualifying week). You must be earning at or above the lower earnings limit, which is £123 per week in 2025/26. And you must still be employed by that employer at the start of your maternity leave.

The 26-week continuous employment requirement catches some people out. Gaps for sickness, annual leave, or even some types of career break can count toward continuity, but gaps where you left and rejoined do not. Agency workers often face complications here too, since periods between assignments may break continuity depending on how the contract is structured.

Your gross salary matters directly because it feeds into the lower earnings limit check. Someone earning exactly £123 per week gross qualifies. Someone earning £122 does not, even if they have worked for the same employer for years.

How average weekly earnings are calculated

SMP is not based on your current pay rate. It is based on your average weekly earnings (AWE) calculated over a specific reference period: the eight weeks ending with the last payday before the end of your qualifying week. For monthly-paid employees this is typically the two months before the qualifying week. For weekly-paid employees it is the eight weeks ending before that point.

HMRC requires employers to add up all gross earnings in that reference period and divide by the number of weeks it covers. Gross earnings include your regular salary, overtime actually worked, statutory sick pay received in that period, and bonuses paid during those weeks. Regular commission payments generally count too. What is excluded is things like expenses reimbursements, redundancy pay, and amounts that are not truly earnings.

The timing of bonuses matters more than most people realise. If your employer pays an annual bonus and it happens to fall within your eight-week reference period, it can significantly increase your AWE and therefore your SMP for the first six weeks. Conversely, if you had a period of unpaid leave or reduced pay for sickness during that same window, your AWE and SMP will be lower than your normal salary would suggest.

The two phases of SMP payments

SMP is paid over 39 weeks in two distinct phases. The first six weeks are paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings with no upper limit. If your AWE is £800 per week, you receive £720 for each of those first six weeks. This phase is designed to provide closer-to-normal income during the early weeks of leave when costs tend to be highest.

From week seven through week 39, you receive the flat rate. In 2025/26 that is £184.03 per week, provided that figure is not higher than 90% of your AWE. For employees earning less than about £204 per week, 90% of their AWE would actually be lower than £184.03, and that lower figure applies instead. This protects against paying more than the earnings-based calculation would give.

SMP is treated as earnings. Your employer deducts income tax and National Insurance from it under PAYE, so the amount you actually receive in your bank account will be less than the gross figures above. The net amount varies depending on your tax code and NI category. After week 39, maternity leave continues (up to 52 weeks total) but it is unpaid unless your employer offers enhanced terms.

Maternity allowance for those who do not qualify for SMP

If you do not qualify for SMP because you have not worked for the same employer long enough, or because you are self-employed, you may still be entitled to maternity allowance (MA). MA is a DWP benefit rather than an employer payment. The standard rate for 2025/26 is £184.03 per week or 90% of your average weekly earnings in the 66 weeks before your baby is due, whichever is lower. It is paid for up to 39 weeks.

To claim MA you need to have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your due date. The 26 weeks do not have to be consecutive, and they can be with different employers. Self-employed women who pay Class 2 National Insurance can also qualify. The rate for self-employed claimants is the same £184.03 per week, though if you have not paid enough Class 2 NI in the relevant period you may receive a reduced rate of £27 per week instead.

Maternity allowance is not taxable, which is a meaningful difference from SMP. The net difference between the two is less dramatic than it sounds because SMP is paid via payroll and tax is deducted at source, so you end up with a similar take-home either way at typical earnings levels.

Enhanced maternity pay and what your contract might offer

SMP is the legal floor, not the ceiling. Many employers, particularly larger ones and those in competitive sectors, offer enhanced maternity pay on top of the statutory minimum. Common schemes include full pay for the first four to twelve weeks, then SMP for the remainder. Some employers offer six months at full pay. Public sector employers, especially in the NHS, education, and civil service, tend to have particularly generous enhanced terms.

Enhanced pay is a contractual matter and varies widely. It is worth reading your employment contract or staff handbook carefully before your qualifying week. Some enhanced schemes are discretionary rather than contractual, which means the employer can change or withdraw them. Others are fully contractual and legally enforceable. The key distinction matters if you are considering a grievance or legal claim.

Some enhanced schemes come with a claw-back clause requiring you to repay part of the enhanced element if you do not return to work for a minimum period after your leave ends. The SMP portion cannot be clawed back regardless of whether you return, but the amount above SMP can be subject to repayment conditions. Check the small print before you plan your return date.

Salary sacrifice and its effect on SMP

Salary sacrifice arrangements for pensions, childcare vouchers, or cycle-to-work schemes reduce your contractual pay below your actual salary. That lower contractual pay figure is what feeds into your AWE calculation. If your gross pay has been reduced to £30,000 through a £5,000 salary sacrifice pension contribution, your AWE and your SMP are calculated on the £30,000 figure, not the £35,000 you might otherwise have expected.

This catches many people off guard, especially those who increased their pension contributions in the year before going on leave. The SMP loss can be significant. A £5,000 salary sacrifice reduction on a £35,000 salary would reduce the first-six-weeks portion of SMP by about £86.54 per week, costing roughly £519 over the higher-rate phase alone.

Your annual leave entitlement continues to accrue during maternity leave at the full rate, including bank holidays. Many women choose to take their accrued leave either at the start or end of their maternity period. Accrued leave taken in this way is paid at your normal rate of pay, not at the SMP rate, so it can boost your income significantly around the start or end of your leave.

Keeping in touch days during maternity leave

You are allowed up to ten keeping in touch (KIT) days during your maternity leave without ending your SMP entitlement or your leave period. These are designed to help employees stay connected, attend training, or handle handovers without being penalised. The pay for a KIT day is agreed between you and your employer. The standard practice is to pay your normal daily rate, offset against the SMP you would have received for that week.

KIT days are optional for both sides. Your employer cannot force you to work them and you cannot insist on taking them. They are a voluntary arrangement. Some employers pay generously for KIT days as a retention measure; others pay only the statutory minimum offset. Either way, the days themselves do not affect the total SMP amount or duration you are entitled to.

If you are considering when to start your maternity leave, it is worth knowing that you can take leave from as early as 11 weeks before your due date. Most people start two to four weeks before. Starting later means you receive more SMP later in the pregnancy, but you also have less leave remaining after the birth. The 39 weeks of SMP begins from whenever your leave starts, so the timing affects which weeks fall in the higher-rate phase and which fall in the flat-rate phase.