Duration, interpreted
Full statutory year
52 weeks total
UK statutory leave · 2026-27
SMP 2026-27 39 paid weeks MAX STEPPED FLOOR EMP-RECOVER
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
Employee for 26 continuous weeks ending the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC), earning at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average.
- Max leave
- 52 wks
- paid + unpaid
- Paid weeks
- 39 wks
- 6 @ 90% + 33 flat
- 2026-27 flat rate
- £194.32
- per week
- Earnings threshold
- £129/wk
- to qualify
Paid weeks, interpreted
Maximum paid entitlement
39 weeks paid
2026-27 rate, interpreted
Standard statutory rate
£194.32/week
Earnings threshold, interpreted
Standard LEL threshold
£129/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
SMP pays 39 weeks - the first 6 at 90% of your average weekly earnings, then 33 at the £194.32 flat 2026-27 rate. Most employed parents giving birth (the default route).
Employer (recoverable from HMRC — 92% standard, 109% under Small Employers Relief). Not for: Self-employed parents — see Maternity Allowance.
- £6,413
- Statutory pay from the flat phase33 wks × £194.32 (the 90% weeks add more)
- £194.32
- Weekly flat rate, 2026-27
- 26 wks
- Qualifying employment needed
HMRC leave posture brief
SMP 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
- 6+33 weeks at 90% then flat
- 10 days Keeping-in-Touch allowance #2 of 5 by KIT days
- SMP who routes statutory cash
- £194.32 weekly flat rate (2026-27)
- MA 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 52 weeks break down
SMP entitlement across the full leave period, week by week.
- 90% of earnings · 6weeks
- Flat £194.32/wk · 33weeks
- Unpaid · 13weeks
Paid vs unpaid weeks on SMP
Additive split of the full 52-week entitlement from the live leave_types row: paid weeks and unpaid weeks sum exactly to max leave (coarser than the 90%/flat/unpaid phase bar above).
Length vs flexibility in this corpus
Both gauges read the same leave_types row. Paid weeks and KIT days are separate columns; SMP 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 SMP sits among all 6 schemes
Statutory paid-weeks inventory across every leave scheme in the corpus. SMP is marked; length is not a quality ranking.
SMP 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
SMP weekly flat rate
HMRC statutory flat-rate upratings from the live statutory_rates table.
Leave Value & Flexibility Score
How generous and flexible SMP is, from 4 of 4 tracked dimensions.
84 B
- Paid weeks 39 weeks 100/100 · A
- Total leave available 52 weeks 100/100 · A
- Keeping-in-Touch flexibility 10 days 67/100 · D
- Initial pay-replacement rate 90% 50/100 · F
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 SMP extract
This page reads the live leave_types row for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) (MAX · STEPPED · FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER) 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
Employee for 26 continuous weeks ending the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC), earning at least the Lower Earnings Limit on average.
Qualifying period
26 weeks continuous employment to qualifying week
Who pays (EMP-RECOVER)
Employer (recoverable from HMRC — 92% standard, 109% under Small Employers Relief).
Notice required
No less than 28 days before intended leave start date
Keeping In Touch (KIT) days · FLOOR
SMP 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
Employer must continue contributions during paid SMP as if on full pay; employee contributions calculated on actual SMP received.
Rate table
| Tax year | Weekly rate | Threshold (LEL) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | £194.32 | £129.00 | Standard rate (after first 6 weeks at 90% earnings). 2026-27 April uprating confirmed in HMRC rate tables. |
| 2025-26 | £187.18 | £125.00 | Standard rate (April 2025 uprating). |
| 2024-25 | £184.03 | £123.00 | Standard rate. |
Rates uprated annually each April. Source: HMRC rates and allowances publication.
Best-for / not-for
Best for: Most employed parents giving birth (the default route).
Not for: Self-employed parents — see Maternity Allowance.
Governing law and source
Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992; Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986
Source: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave · 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 SMP
Nearest ABS(paid_weeks) and ABS(kit_days) peers for SMP (MAX · STEPPED · FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER), replacing the old fixed Related schemes strip.
MAX STEPPED FLOOR EMP-RECOVER
MA · MAX
MA tied with SMP at 39 paid weeks; KIT FLOOR · DWP-DIRECT vs this page FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER.
SAP · MAX
SAP tied with SMP at 39 paid weeks; KIT FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER vs this page FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER.
SPL/ShPP · LONG
SPL/ShPP 37 paid weeks (fewer by 2 than SMP); KIT FLEX · EMP-RECOVER vs this page FLOOR · EMP-RECOVER.
Compare SMP side-by-side
Paid-weeks MAX · phase STEPPED · KIT FLOOR against every other live scheme.
SMP cash-flow calculator
Model STEPPED weeks at the live 2026-27 flat rate for this EMP-RECOVER route.
Guide: How SMP works
Editorial walkthrough adjacent to SMP's MAX · EMP-RECOVER registry row.
Stored on this device only. No account, no email.
Open my watchlist
What this registry row gives you
SMP is recorded at 39 paid weeks and £194.32/week flat for 2026-27 (HMRC/GOV.UK).
- Compare SMP paid-weeks and KIT stamps against every other live scheme. Open compare
- Model the STEPPED cash-flow at the live 2026-27 flat rate for this EMP-RECOVER 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.