Guide to maternity pay

Our guide to maternity pay, how much you are eligable for and what you can expect to receive from the State.

dummy surrounded by money

• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

You’ll receive statutory maternity pay if you’ve been in your job for 26 weeks by your qualifying week, and your average weekly earnings in the eight weeks before your qualifying week are at least £95 before tax. You’ll get 90 per cent of your average pay for six weeks, followed by £123.06 (or 90 per cent of your average earnings if they are less) for the remaining 33 weeks. If you leave your job after your qualifying week, or you’re made redundant, you still qualify. You don’t have to pay SMP back, even if you choose not to go back to work.

• Maternity Allowance (MA)

If you’re low paid, self-employed or changed jobs during pregnancy, you may be eligible for MA. You need to have worked 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your due date, and earned at least £30 a week for 13 of those. MA lasts 39 weeks, at 90 per cent of your earnings, with a maximum of £123.06 per week.

£25,000 – that’s how much the unpaid housework us mums do each year is worth, according to a survey by Legal & General.

For further information on your rights visit:
Government website on pregnancy and maternity rights in the workplace

‘WHAT PART-TIME WORK COULD I DO?’

Q I’m not planning to go back to work full-time once I’ve had my baby. I’d like to earn a bit of ‘pin money’ though – are there any part-time jobs I could get that wouldn’t mean having to use childcare?

Jemma Johnson, Guildford

A Check out www.mumandworking.com. It’s the UK’s first online directory of part-time jobs for full-time mums, from ‘wraparound’ (before and after-school) childminding to Ann Summers party organising, with tried and tested insights from real mums. You might also be inspired by the interviews with mums who’ve started their own home-based businesses.

Visit: www.childtrustfund.gov.uk.

CLAIM IT

CHILD BENEFIT

Child Benefit is a regular payment made to anyone bringing up children. It is paid for each child that qualifies regardless of your income or savings.

You should receive a claim form in your ‘Bounty Pack’ when your baby’s born. Or you can complete a form online (or print one out to fill in later) at the HM Revenue & Customs website, www.hmrc.gov.uk.