All UK schemes · 2026-27
UK statutory parental leave & childcare schemes
Every UK statutory parental-pay and childcare scheme for the 2026-27 tax year. Click through for full eligibility, who pays, qualifying period, KIT-day rules, pension treatment, and HMRC / GOV.UK primary source links.
- Schemes catalogued
- 6
- pay + childcare
- Longest paid leave
- 39 wks
- SMP / Adoption
- 2026-27 flat rate
- £194.32
- per week
- Source
- GOV.UK
- HMRC rate tables
Download the UK statutory parental-pay extract cited on this page: uk-statutory-parental-pay.csv (CC BY 4.0).
According to this portal's Publishing Organization, this page was last reviewed in August 2026 against our methodology. Figures and extracts on this site, including tables above 1,000 rows when the corpus is that large, are the publisher's responsibility.
How the schemes compare
According to HMRC and GOV.UK statutory-payment rules for 2026-27, largest of 3 at 39 paid weeks (MA, SAP, and SMP) is #1 of 5 by paid weeks at KIT-days rank #2 (10 days) ≠ SPL/ShPP #1 of 5 by KIT days (20) at paid-weeks rank #4 (37 weeks). Tax-Free Childcare is excluded (max_weeks=0).
Every scheme above the childcare line shares the same 2026-27 flat rate of £194.32/wk. Paid-week length and KIT-day allowance are separate leave_types columns; Tax-Free Childcare is excluded from corpus ranks (max_weeks=0).
- 39 wks
- Paid-weeks #1largest of 3
- 20
- KIT-days #1SPL/ShPP
- 5
- Leave-duration schemesmax_weeks > 0
Two views of the same scheme table
Paid weeks and KIT-day allowance both come from the live leave_types rows. Length and flexibility diverge: SMP, MA, SAP lead on paid weeks, while SPL/ShPP leads on KIT days.
Paid weeks by scheme
How many weeks of statutory pay each UK scheme provides in 2026-27. SMP and Adoption Pay run longest at 39 weeks; Statutory Paternity Pay is the shortest at 2.
SPL/ShPP KIT days vs scheme ceiling
Same leave_types.kit_days_allowed column · not a second dataset
The same divergence, plotted as one 2D view
3 of 3 schemes land on the exact same shape (39 paid weeks, 10 KIT days) -- SPL/ShPP breaks that mould with fewer paid weeks but double the KIT days.
| Scheme | Paid weeks | KIT days allowed |
|---|---|---|
| SMP | 39 | 10 |
| SPP | 2 | 0 |
| SPL/ShPP | 37 | 20 |
| MA | 39 | 10 |
| SAP | 39 | 10 |
-
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
SMPEmployee for 26 continuous weeks ending the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC), earning at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average.
39 paid weeks · £194.32/wk flat rate · Employer -
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)
SPPEmployee for 26 continuous weeks ending the 15th week before EWC; biological father, mother's partner, or adopting parent.
2 paid weeks · £194.32/wk flat rate · Employer -
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Pay (ShPP)
SPL/ShPPBoth parents must meet the work and earnings continuity tests; the birth parent must curtail SMP/MA. Up to 50 weeks of leave + 37 weeks of pay can be split.
37 paid weeks · £194.32/wk flat rate · Each parent's own employer -
Maternity Allowance (MA)
MASelf-employed paying Class 2 NICs, or employed but not qualifying for SMP, who have worked at least 26 of the 66 weeks before EWC and earned £30/week+ in any 13 of those weeks.
39 paid weeks · £194.32/wk flat rate · DWP / HMRC direct to claimant -
Tax-Free Childcare
TFCEach parent aged 21 or over must expect to earn at least £203.36/week over the next 3 months (the 16-hour National Living Wage equivalent), and neither may expect adjusted net income above £100,000. Children are eligible until the September after age 11 (or 16 if disabled).
Government tops up parent contributions -
Statutory Adoption Leave and Pay (SAP)
SAPEmployee for 26 continuous weeks ending the week the child is matched; only one parent in an adopting couple can take SAP.
39 paid weeks · £194.32/wk flat rate · Employer
What this catalog is for
The leave-type index lists every live scheme in the 2026-27 registry with paid-weeks and flat-rate stamps from HMRC/GOV.UK.
- Open a scheme row for paid weeks, KIT days, payer stamp, and source links. SMP registry row
- Compare paid-weeks and KIT stamps across schemes side by side. Compare schemes
- How corpus ranks and flat rates are derived from the primary tables. Methodology
Catalog readings only, not leave, payroll, or tax advice. Confirm against HMRC/GOV.UK before acting.