New Parent Statutory Pay Maths 2026/27: SMP and Paternity Pay Worked Out

Quick answer

In 2026/27 SMP pays 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £194.32 or 90% of earnings for up to 33 more weeks. Paternity pay is up to 2 weeks at the lower of £194.32 or 90% of earnings. The money is treated as earnings, so tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments can all apply.

How the SMP calculation actually works

SMP has two distinct phases, and the maths matters because the first six weeks can be worth far more than the rest.

First, your employer works out your average weekly earnings (AWE) over a set eight-week reference period ending around the 15th week before your due date. This is your gross pay including overtime and bonuses, divided across those weeks.

For the first 6 weeks, you receive 90% of that AWE with no upper cap. So a parent earning £600 a week gets £540 a week during this period.

For the next 33 weeks, you receive the lower of £194.32 or 90% of your AWE. For most employees earning above roughly £216 a week, 90% exceeds the flat rate, so the £194.32 figure applies.

The total is gross. To see what actually reaches your account after tax and NI, run your effective annual figure through a

calculation, remembering that statutory pay is often your only income during leave.

Paternity pay: two weeks, more flexible than before

Statutory Paternity Pay is simpler. You get up to 2 weeks at the lower of £194.32 or 90% of your average weekly earnings. Two full weeks at the flat rate is £388.64 gross.

Since April 2024 the rules are more flexible: you can take the two weeks separately (as two single weeks) and at any point in the first 52 weeks after birth, rather than being forced to use them in the first eight weeks. You give 28 days' notice of each period.

To qualify you need 26 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer by the 15th week before the due date, and average weekly earnings at or above the lower earnings limit. If you earn 90% of less than £194.32 a week, you get that 90% figure instead of the flat rate.

A

calculation helps if your weekly earnings sit near the threshold where 90% and the flat rate cross over.

Tax, National Insurance and student loans

This is where parents are often caught out: statutory parental pay is earnings, not a tax-free benefit. It passes through PAYE, so income tax, employee NI and student loan repayments can all be deducted.

In practice, the flat £194.32 rate is around £842 a month, which is below the Personal Allowance threshold (£12,570 a year, or £1,048 a month) and below the NI primary threshold (also £12,570). So if statutory pay is your only income for those weeks, deductions are often zero.

But two things change that:

• The high-rate first six weeks of SMP can push you over the weekly tax and NI thresholds, especially on a high salary.
• Other income in the same tax year (months of normal salary before or after leave) uses up your Personal Allowance, so statutory pay can be taxed on top.

Student loans follow the same logic. The Plan 5 threshold is £25,000 a year (9% above it), so statutory-only months rarely trigger repayments, but a high-earning six-week SMP block might.

Where employer top-ups change everything

The statutory figures are legal minimums. Many employers run enhanced or occupational maternity and paternity schemes, for example full pay for the first several weeks then SMP. Always check your contract or staff handbook before assuming you are on the statutory rate.

Enhanced pay is taxed as normal earnings, so it interacts with your Personal Allowance and NI thresholds in the same way as salary. Salary-sacrifice arrangements, such as pension contributions, can also affect your average weekly earnings figure used for SMP, sometimes reducing it. If you are planning a pregnancy, it is worth checking how any sacrifice scheme feeds into the AWE calculation.

Shared Parental Pay and the household maths

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) lets eligible parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay. ShPP is paid at the same flat rate, £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower.

The key trap: ShPP has no six-week 90% high-rate period. The mother's SMP includes those lucrative first six weeks, but converting to ShPP gives that up. If the higher earner switches to ShPP early, the household can lose money overall. Model both the SMP-only route and the shared route before committing, and keep the compulsory two weeks of maternity leave in mind.

If you do not qualify for SMP

If your average weekly earnings are below the lower earnings limit, or you are self-employed, you cannot get SMP. Instead you claim Maternity Allowance from the DWP, also paid at up to £194.32 a week (or 90% of average earnings if lower) for up to 39 weeks. Maternity Allowance is not taxable and does not have NI deducted, which is a meaningful difference from SMP for lower earners.

Devolved note

The statutory rates and durations are set UK-wide, so £194.32 a week, the 39-week maternity period and the 2-week paternity period apply identically in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The only difference is income tax: Scotland sets its own bands (starter, basic, intermediate 21%, higher 42% and above). In practice, parents receiving only the flat statutory rate stay within the Personal Allowance, so they see no Scottish-specific deduction. Maternity Allowance and the employer reclaim mechanism are also UK-wide.