Maternity Allowance
If you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity
Pay (SMP), your employer must give you form SMP1. If you cannot
claim SMP from any of your employers (if you have more than one),
you may be able to get Maternity Allowance (MA) instead
Who can claim?
You may be eligible to claim Maternity
Allowance if:
- you are employed, but not eligible for Statutory Maternity
Pay
- you are registered self-employed and paying Class 2 National
Insurance Contributions (NICs), or hold a Small Earnings Exception
certificate
- you have very recently been employed or self-employed
- you've been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26
weeks in your 'test period' (66 weeks up to and including the
week before the week your baby is due)
- you earned £30 a week, averaged over any 13 weeks in
your test period
If you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity
Pay or Maternity Allowance, you may be able to get Employment and
Support Allowance instead.
Who cannot claim?
You cannot claim Maternity Allowance if you
are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay from any of your employers
- even if you have more than one.
How much will I receive?
Maternity Allowance pays a standard weekly
rate of £128.73, or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly
earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller.
It will be paid in either weekly or monthly
installments for a maximum of 39 weeks. The earliest you can
receive Maternity Allowance is the 11th week before your
baby is due, and the latest you can receive it is the day after you
child has been born.
You may be able to get extra money for your
husband, civil partner or someone else who looks after your
children, if that person is on a very low income.