Money Blog: Exaggerated? How UK maternity pay compares globally – with some surprises in the rankings | British News

Basically, maternity pay is what women receive when they are released from work after giving birth.

Conservative Party candidate Kemi Badenoch sparked a backlash over the weekend after claiming the UK’s statutory maternity pay was “excessive” – ​​so we decided to make it this week’s topic Basically… Special feature.

The deputy housing minister later backtracked, saying her comments had been “misrepresented.” She told Sky News that she thought maternity pay was “a good thing”.

So what is statutory maternity pay and how much are employees entitled to?

What you need to know

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1987.

Someone who is legally classified as an employee (our employment law basics explain this) can receive SMP if:

• You worked for the same employer for 26 weeks continuously before your “qualifying week” (the 15th week before the birth of the child);
• They will earn an average of at least £123 per week for eight weeks before their qualifying week.

SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks of the 52 weeks of vacation offered to eligible employees.

However, some employers may offer “enhanced” maternity pay packages for employees who have been with them for a certain period of time – for example, 26 weeks of basic pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay.

Importantly, eligible women will continue to be entitled to maternity leave and/or maternity benefit if their baby is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or is born alive at any time but does not survive.

What is it worth?

For the first six weeks, SMP will be paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings.

You will then receive the lower amount:

• £184.03 per week
• 90% of your average weekly earnings

Maternity benefit is the same regardless of the number of children you have (e.g. twins or triplets).

If you receive full maternity pay for 52 weeks, the final 13 weeks will not be paid unless your employer offers you an extended package.

Who pays for it?

The employer initially pays SMP to their employee – but depending on the size of the business they can claim most or possibly all of the amount back from HM Revenue and Customs.

If a business is smaller and paid less than £45,000 in Class 1 National Insurance contributions in the last tax year, it can claim the full amount of SMP back from the government, plus 3% as relief for small employers.

Larger employers can usually claim back 92% of the SMP.

How does UK maternity pay compare to other countries?

In the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) – a 38-member group that deals with economic and social policy – the UK performs very differently on two different measures of maternity pay.

When it comes to total pay, the UK is near the bottom of the pack – but is near the top when it comes to the length of paid time women have the legal right to work, according to a study by the OECD from 2023.

A YouGov poll carried out in the wake of the row over Ms Badenoch’s comments found that just 7% of Brits currently think maternity pay is too high – compared to 36% who think it is too low and 28 % who think it’s about right.

Women (42%) were more likely than men (30%) to believe that this was not enough.

What happens if I don’t get a statutory salary?

If you are not entitled to statutory maternity pay, you may be able to claim maternity pay for up to 39 weeks of your leave, paid directly by the state.

You can get this if you:

• are employed but do not qualify for SMP;
• are independent;
• have recently stopped working;
• Support your spouse’s or partner’s business free of charge.

If you are employed or self-employed, you must have been registered as an employee for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before the birth of your child.

You must have earned at least £30 per week for at least 13 of those weeks.

If you are employed or have recently stopped working, you will receive an allowance of £184.03 per week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever value is smaller). If you are self employed you can get it between £27 and £184.03 per week Depending on how much second class social security contributions you paid in the 66 weeks before the birth of your child.

Paternity benefit

Fathers are also entitled to a certain amount of pay and time off from work when they take in a child.

As with maternity pay, the statutory rate of paternity pay is £184.03 or 90% of your average weekly earnings – whichever is lower.

Typically statutory paternity leave is up to two weeks depending on entitlement, although some employers may offer more with their extended parental leave package.

Read more in our Basically… Series…