Your details
Need a bit more help understanding maternity leave policies?
Use the guide to check common policy wording, enhanced pay stages, unpaid leave and what questions to ask payroll before you plan your dates.
Read the maternity pay guideMaternity pay calculator
Estimate your maternity pay before leave starts
Use this for a quick planning estimate based on GOV.UK Statutory Maternity Pay rates for the 2026/27 tax year.
If your employer offers enhanced maternity pay, switch it on below for a simple breakdown. The estimate is intentionally broad, so use the full planner for a month-by-month view of your leave.
Planned leave length1 weekBased on your planned start and end dates.
Estimated total take-home income gap during your whole 1 week£0.00After tax. Uses a 85% take-home assumption for your normal pay.
Estimated average monthly pay during maternity leave£0.00After tax. This spreads your estimated maternity-leave take-home across the planned leave.
Simple pay stages
Simple pay stages
These figures are estimates. Before-tax figures are based on your pay and maternity policy. After-tax figures use a salary-based take-home assumption so you can see the likely income gap.
This estimate assumes you take home about 85% of your normal pay after tax85%
This is a rough planning percentage based on the pay before tax you entered. It does not calculate your exact tax, National Insurance, pension, student loan, salary sacrifice or other deductions. Standard SMP weeks use a separate 95% estimate because deductions are usually lower when pay drops.
Estimated normal take-home total during this time£0.00After tax, for the same 1 week.
Estimated maternity-leave take-home total£0.00After tax, across your planned maternity leave.
Estimated income gap during this time£0.00After tax. Normal take-home minus maternity-leave take-home.
Enter your pay before tax to see a maternity pay estimate.
Unpaid leave1 week
- Normal weekly pay before tax
- £0.00
- Maternity weekly pay before tax
- £0.00
- Estimated monthly take-home in this stage
- £0.00
- Estimated take-home gap in this stage
- £0.00
This is a broad estimate. Normal, full-pay, enhanced-pay and first-6-weeks SMP figures use the salary-based take-home percentage shown above. Standard SMP weeks use 95% because deductions are usually lower when pay drops. Tax, National Insurance, pension, student loans, benefits, salary sacrifice and payroll timing can all affect actual take-home pay, so this is not a payslip-by-payslip forecast.
Full planner
Make the numbers more personal to you
This calculator gives a quick estimate using broad assumptions. The full planner lets you add more of your own details, so the take-home estimates can feel more personal and easier to compare with your normal pay.
It also gives you a workbook you can keep and refer back to during maternity leave, with weekly detail, month-by-month forecasts, savings targets, baby costs, nursery fees and leave length comparisons in one spreadsheet.