Duration, interpreted
Extended leave
39 weeks total
UK statutory leave · 2026-27
MA 2026-27 39 paid weeks MAX FLAT FLOOR DWP-DIRECT
Maternity Allowance (MA)
Self-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.
- Max leave
- 39 wks
- paid + unpaid
- Paid weeks
- 39 wks
- at flat rate
- 2026-27 flat rate
- £194.32
- per week
- Earnings test
- £30/wk
- to qualify
Paid weeks, interpreted
Maximum paid entitlement
39 weeks paid
2026-27 rate, interpreted
Standard statutory rate
£194.32/week
Earnings test, interpreted
Reduced earnings test
£30/wk to qualify
Download the UK statutory parental-pay extract cited on this page: uk-statutory-parental-pay.csv (CC BY 4.0).
What this scheme actually pays
MA pays 39 weeks at the flat £194.32/week 2026-27 rate. Self-employed, agency workers, recently changed jobs, or low earners who do not qualify for SMP.
DWP / HMRC direct to claimant (paid 2-weekly or 4-weekly). Not for: Employees who already qualify for SMP (SMP is usually higher).
- £7,578
- Statutory pay from the flat phase39 wks × £194.32
- £194.32
- Weekly flat rate, 2026-27
- 26 wks
- Qualifying employment needed
HMRC leave posture brief
MA statutory profile in this snapshot
Entity-varying stamps from the live leave_types registry (paid weeks, KIT allowance, payer route, flat rate) - not a clone nationwide scaffold.
- 39 wks statutory paid weeks on this scheme #1 of 5 by length
- 39 weeks at flat rate only
- 10 days Keeping-in-Touch allowance #2 of 5 by KIT days
- MA who routes statutory cash
- £194.32 weekly flat rate (2026-27)
- SAP nearest paid-weeks peer (Δ 0 wks)
- 2026-05-20 HMRC/GOV.UK registry vintage
Paid-weeks neighbourhood
Statutory paid weeks among the nearest ABS(paid_weeks) peers (snapshot 2026-08-10).
How the 39 weeks break down
MA entitlement across the full leave period, week by week.
- Flat £194.32/wk · 39weeks
Length vs flexibility in this corpus
Both gauges read the same leave_types row. Paid weeks and KIT days are separate columns; MA can lead on one and trail on the other.
Paid weeks vs longest scheme
Corpus paid-weeks rank #1 of 5
KIT days vs scheme ceiling
Corpus KIT-days rank #2 of 5
Where MA sits among all 6 schemes
Statutory paid-weeks inventory across every leave scheme in the corpus. MA is marked; length is not a quality ranking.
MA vs all schemes by paid weeks
Where this scheme's statutory paid weeks sit among every tracked leave type
39 3rd of 6 higher than 3 of 6 schemes
Schemes, banded by statutory paid weeks
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more schemes. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source UK statutory parental-leave entitlements · 2026-08-10
Year on year
Flat-rate progression
MA weekly flat rate
HMRC statutory flat-rate upratings from the live statutory_rates table.
Leave Value & Flexibility Score
How generous and flexible MA is, from 3 of 4 tracked dimensions (the rest do not apply to this scheme, so their weight redistributed to the ones that do).
83 B
- Paid weeks 39 weeks 100/100 · A
- Total leave available 39 weeks 75/100 · C
- Keeping-in-Touch flexibility 10 days 67/100 · D
- Initial pay-replacement rate Flat rate only N/A · weight redistributed
Benchmarked against the full tracked leave-scheme corpus (p10-p90 range per dimension, computed live); a higher score means more paid weeks, more total leave, more Keeping-in-Touch flexibility, and (when the scheme has one) a higher initial pay-replacement rate. See how we place leave schemes.
About this MA extract
This page reads the live leave_types row for Maternity Allowance (MA) (MAX · FLAT · FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT) from HMRC and GOV.UK statutory-payment rules for 2026-27. Flat rates uplift each April; employer-enhanced contractual pay is out of scope.
Full attribution and refresh cadence sit on the methodology page. HMRC and Acas remain the canonical channels for individual eligibility disputes.
Who qualifies
Self-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.
Qualifying period
26 of 66 weeks worked before EWC
Who pays (DWP-DIRECT)
DWP / HMRC direct to claimant (paid 2-weekly or 4-weekly).
Notice required
Claim from 14 weeks before EWC
Keeping In Touch (KIT) days · FLOOR
MA allows up to 10 optional paid KIT days (FLOOR stamp in this corpus) without ending leave. Agreed-rate KIT pay does not reduce the MAX statutory paid-weeks entitlement.
Pension treatment
No employer pension during MA — self-employed should plan independently.
Rate table
| Tax year | Weekly rate | Threshold (LEL) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | £194.32 | £30.00 | Standard MA. Self-employed variable MA: lesser of 90% earnings or flat rate. £30/wk is the MA earnings test, not the LEL. |
| 2025-26 | £187.18 | £30.00 | Standard MA (April 2025). |
| 2024-25 | £184.03 | £30.00 | Standard MA. |
Rates uprated annually each April. Source: HMRC rates and allowances publication.
Best-for / not-for
Best for: Self-employed, agency workers, recently changed jobs, or low earners who do not qualify for SMP.
Not for: Employees who already qualify for SMP (SMP is usually higher).
Governing law and source
Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 s.35
Source: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance · Rates as of 2026-05-20 per HMRC rate-and-allowance publication
Next step for your own household
The stamps above cover the scheme in general; your own take-home depends on your actual pay and start date. Run those figures on the pay calculator or line it up against every other scheme on the comparison board .
Read with MA
Nearest ABS(paid_weeks) and ABS(kit_days) peers for MA (MAX · FLAT · FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT), replacing the old fixed Related schemes strip.
MAX FLAT FLOOR DWP-DIRECT
SAP · MAX
SAP tied with MA at 39 paid weeks; KIT FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER vs this page FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT.
SMP · MAX
SMP tied with MA at 39 paid weeks; KIT FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER vs this page FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT.
SPL/ShPP · LONG
SPL/ShPP 37 paid weeks (fewer by 2 than MA); KIT FLEX · EMP-RECOVER vs this page FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT.
Compare MA side-by-side
Paid-weeks MAX · phase FLAT · KIT FLOOR against every other live scheme.
MA cash-flow calculator
Model FLAT weeks at the live 2026-27 flat rate for this DWP-DIRECT route.
Guide: How SMP works
Editorial walkthrough adjacent to MA's MAX · DWP-DIRECT registry row.
Stored on this device only. No account, no email.
Open my watchlist
What this registry row gives you
MA is recorded at 39 paid weeks and £194.32/week flat for 2026-27 (HMRC/GOV.UK).
- Compare MA paid-weeks and KIT stamps against every other live scheme. Open compare
- Model the FLAT cash-flow at the live 2026-27 flat rate for this DWP-DIRECT route. Open calculator
- How the flat rate, qualifying tests, and KIT days are derived from the primary tables. Methodology
Informational registry only, not payroll, tax, or medical advice. Confirm figures against the cited HMRC/GOV.UK source before any decision.
According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and GOV.UK statutory-payment guidance, UK parental leave and pay figures are published in the Rates and Allowances: Statutory Payments tables and related employment-rights pages. Every figure on PlainMaternity is rebuilt from those primary publications; no number is typed in by an editor. Leave-type figures are computed directly from gov.uk statutory pay and leave data, no figure is typed in by an editor. We don't rate employers or recommend leave choices, these pages are a registry of the published rules. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a correction. Data current as of 2026-27.