Guidance

Maternity benefits: detailed guide

Find out about the 2 maternity benefits available under the social security scheme: Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance.

Published 1 April 2013
Last updated 26 March 2015 — see all updates
From:
Department for Work and Pensions

Documents

Details

A guide to the 2 maternity benefits available to women under the social security scheme:

  • Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
  • Maternity Allowance (MA)

This includes how the maternity benefits are worked out, the eligibility rules and when these benefits may be paid.

Published 1 April 2013
Last updated 26 March 2015 + show all updates
  1. N17A updated to reflect National Insurance contribution changes (NICs) for the self-employed.
  2. Updated to take account of the new Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme.
  3. Revisions have been published to the Maternity benefits technical guidance to include the introduction on 1 April 2014 of Maternity Allowance for women who are not employed or self-employed, their baby is due on or after 27 July 2014, and they take part in the business of their self-employed spouse or civil partner.
  4. First published.