Maternity pay flat rate falls to less than half the National Living Wage

The flat rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance was worth 44% of the National Living Wage in April 2025, according to Maternity Action's report Pushed into Poverty: The Cost of Living on Maternity Leave 2025, published in May 2025¹. The charity says the same flat rate stood at 63% of the adult rate minimum wage in 2012, and at 35% of women's median weekly earnings in April 2025 against 42% in 2012¹.

The flat rate is £187.18 in 2025/26¹. For those who qualify, SMP is paid for six weeks at 90% of average earnings, followed by 33 weeks on the flat rate or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower¹. Maternity Allowance is paid at the flat rate for the full 39 weeks, with no initial 90% uplift, or at 90% of average earnings if that is less¹. Statutory Maternity Pay covers 39 of the 52 weeks of maternity leave, and Maternity Action notes that 52 weeks of leave is a day one right, though only for those classed as employees¹.

The report says the two payments are treated differently under Universal Credit: Maternity Allowance counts as unearned income, while SMP counts as earnings, leaving women on Maternity Allowance up to around £6,000 worse off during the paid portion of maternity leave¹. It adds that two legal challenges, in England in 2020 and Northern Ireland in 2022, determined that the policy was not unlawful¹.

Maternity Action's survey of 1,176 women, live between 16 December 2024 and 3 February 2025, found that only 3% did not worry at all about money during pregnancy or maternity leave, 55% borrowed money or used credit cards, and 57% cut their maternity leave short to start earning again¹. It also found that 28% of fathers and partners had reduced parental leave for financial reasons and 18% could not afford to take any leave at all¹.

The report says government research estimates that only around 13% of women on maternity leave benefit from Occupational Maternity Pay, while 62% of its own respondents received it¹. It also states that Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay, paid at the same flat rate as SMP and Maternity Allowance, were introduced in 2015, and that its previous analysis of HMRC data found only an estimated 2% of eligible fathers used the scheme¹. Around three in five fathers and same-sex partners use their two-week statutory paternity leave entitlement, while around one in five take no leave at all, according to official figures cited in the report¹.

Why it matters for households

The report concerns families where a mother or parent relies on statutory maternity pay rather than an employer's occupational scheme. The flat rate of £187.18 a week applies in 2025/26 for the 33 weeks of SMP after the initial six weeks, and for the full 39 weeks of Maternity Allowance¹. Because the payment is set at a cash figure rather than a share of average earnings or the minimum wage, its value relative to both has fallen since 2012¹.

Two groups are affected differently. Women receiving Maternity Allowance have it treated as unearned income under Universal Credit, so it is deducted pound for pound, while SMP is treated as earnings, a difference the report puts at up to around £6,000 over the paid portion of leave¹. Parents who do not qualify for SMP, for example because of irregular hours, self-employment or sick pay during the qualifying period, may be eligible for Maternity Allowance instead¹. The report also covers the choice between the two payments in its comparison of Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay.

The survey findings describe how families covered the shortfall: 16% took on additional work, 36% of partners did so, 50% spent less on healthy food, 38% ate smaller meals or skipped meals, and 9% used a food bank or other charitable food provider¹. Among mothers using infant formula, 10% struggled to afford it and 27% cut down on food for the rest of the family to buy formula milk¹.

What happens next

Maternity Action recommends increasing Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance, Shared Parental Pay and Paternity Pay to at least the level of the National Living Wage; treating Maternity Allowance as earned income under Universal Credit in the same way as SMP; and replacing Shared Parental Leave with a new model of maternity, paternity and parental leave¹. It cites economic modelling by the Women's Budget Group estimating that uprating SMP, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Paternity Pay to parity with the National Living Wage in 2029 would cost £1,571.31 million in benefits and tax credits, with increased tax and National Insurance revenue of £965.40 million, a net increase of £605.90 million, or 0.193% of the total for that year¹. The same modelling estimates that treating Maternity Allowance as earned income would increase Universal Credit spending by £7.99 million in 2025, or 0.003% of expected expenditure on benefits and tax credits¹.

The report notes that the government's Child Poverty Taskforce was set up in 2024 in response to the worsening situation¹. No government response to the report's recommendations has been reported.