How much Maternity Allowance will I get?
Maternity Allowance is £156.66 per week or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller amount. If you were furloughed because of coronavirus, your earnings should be assessed on what you would have usually earned and not on the 80% you were receiving.
You will get the full amount of Maternity Allowance if you have paid enough national insurance contributions.
You may get a reduced rate if you have not paid enough national insurance contributions.
Maternity Allowance is paid for 39 weeks. If you choose to share some of your parental leave through Statutory Shared Parental Leave, your Maternity Allowance may end before 39 weeks.
The lower rate of Maternity Allowance is £27 per week for 14 weeks. The lower rate is paid if you help with your spouse's or civil partner's self-employment.
Benefit Cap
Maternity Allowance is included in the Benefit Cap which limits the total amount in some benefits that working-age people can receive. See our Benefit Cap information guide for more details.
How will I be paid Maternity Allowance?
Maternity Allowance will be paid directly into your bank or building society account or through the Payment Exception Service if you are unable to open or manage one of these or a similar account.
Maternity Allowance is usually paid every two or four weeks.
Maternity Allowance and other benefits
Maternity Allowance counts in full as income when calculating your entitlement to other means-tested benefits but is ignored when calculating your entitlement to Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.
Updated: April 2022