Maternity Allowance is designed to provide help for mums who don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay and is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Mums who are self-employed or have recently stopped working could be entitled to up to £184 a week in support.
Maternity Allowance is designed to provide help for mums who don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay and is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). You may qualify for Maternity Allowance if you:
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Are self-employed and have been registered as working for yourself for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby’s due
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Were employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby’s due and you earned £30 a week or more in at least 13 weeks of your employment – you can still be eligible if you’ve recently stopped working
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Took part in unpaid work for the business of your spouse or civil partner for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due
If you’re employed or have recently stopped working, you’ll get £184.03 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is less. Or if you’re self-employed, you can get between £27 to £184.03 a week – depending on your National Insurance Class 2 contributions.
If you do unpaid work for your spouse or civil partner’s business, you can get £27 a week for up to 14 weeks. You can use the maternity entitlement calculator to check your eligibility.
Maternity Allowance lasts for 39 weeks. You can start claiming once you’ve been pregnant for 26 weeks, and payments can start up to 11 weeks before your baby is due. To put in a claim, you need to fill in a Maternity Allowance (MA1) claim form which can be found on GOV.UK.
You should get a decision on your Maternity Allowance claim within 20 working days and can appeal if you are rejected. The UK Government manages Maternity Allowance for England, Wales and Scotland. It is devolved in Northern Ireland, but mothers there have the same benefit.
If you lose your baby, you may still qualify if your baby is either stillborn from the start of the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy, or born alive at any point during your pregnancy but does not survive.
