Maternity Allowance: do I qualify and how much?
Tells you if you can get Maternity Allowance, how much, and when to claim. It's the weekly payment for people who can't get maternity pay from an employer.
Your answer
Enter the due date and how you earn a living to see if you can get Maternity Allowance.
About this calculator
For expecting parents who can't get maternity pay from an employer: the self-employed, people new in a job or on a small salary, and people who help unpaid in a self-employed husband's, wife's or civil partner's business.
It says yes, no or not yet, the weekly amount, the total and the dates to claim. If you're self-employed it shows how paying a little National Insurance could lift the weekly amount. It uses the figures you type in and doesn't make the claim for you. Maternity Allowance is the same across the UK.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Maternity Allowance needs work in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the week the baby is due. An employee's pay in their best 13 weeks must average at least £30 a week. It pays 90% of your average pay, up to £194.32 a week, for 39 weeks, and it isn't taxed.
If you're self-employed, each of the 13 weeks counts at the full rate when Class 2 National Insurance is paid (or counted as paid), and at £30 when it isn't. So it's between £27 and £194.32 a week. Unpaid work in a self-employed spouse's or civil partner's business gets £27 a week for 14 weeks.
If your employer has to pay you maternity pay (26 weeks in the job by the 15th week before the due week, and pay of £129 a week or more), that comes first and Maternity Allowance isn't paid.
Worked example
You can get £1,053 of Maternity Allowance: £27.00 a week for 39 weeks.
2026/27 rates · baby due 10 February 2027 · self-employed · payments from the week the baby is due
| The week the baby is due starts on | 7 February 2027 |
|---|---|
| Your 66 weeks run from 2 November 2025 to | 6 February 2027 |
| Weeks you worked in them (you need 26) | 66 |
| Weeks of Class 2 National Insurance paid or counted as paid, out of the 13 that count | 0 |
| 0 × £194.32 + 13 × £27.00, ÷ 13 | £27.00 |
| Maternity Allowance: £27.00 × 39 weeks | £1,053 |
Worked out from the Maternity Allowance rules (Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, sections 35 to 35B) and the 2026/27 rates on GOV.UK. The Department for Work and Pensions decides each claim. We round the weekly amount to the nearest penny.
Questions people ask
Is Maternity Allowance taxed?
No. It isn't taxed. If you get Universal Credit, it counts as income, so your Universal Credit goes down by the same amount.
Can a self-employed parent get more by paying National Insurance?
Often, yes. Each week of Class 2 National Insurance that counts lifts the weekly amount, for £3.65 a week. Claim first: HMRC then tells you which weeks you can pay for.
What if I lose the baby?
We're so sorry. Maternity Allowance can still be paid if the baby is stillborn from the start of the 24th week of pregnancy, or born alive at any time.
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