Eligibility:
In the 66 weeks before your baby’s due, you must also have been:
- employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks
- earning (or classed as earning) £30 a week or more in at least 13 weeks - the weeks do not have to be together
You may still qualify if you’ve recently stopped working. It does not matter if you had different jobs or periods of unemployment.
If you usually earn £30 or more a week and only earned less in some weeks because you were paid but not working (‘on furlough’) under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, you may still be eligible. You must give details in your claim form.
If you’re self-employed
To get the full amount of Maternity Allowance, you must have paid Class 2 National Insurance for at least 13 of the 66 weeks before your baby’s due.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will check if you’ve paid enough when youmake your claim. They’ll write to you if you have not.
If you have not paid enough Class 2 National Insurance to get the full rate (£151.97 a week), you’ll get £27 a week for 39 weeks. You still need to meet all the other eligibility criteria to get this amount.
You may be able to get the full rate by making early National Insurance payments. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will send you a letter to tell you how.
You’ll need to pay using the reference number in the letter to get the full rate, even if you’ve recently made a payment through Self Assessment.