Maternity Allowance

This is what you may get if you change jobs while pregnant, are not earning enough to get SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay), if you are self-employed, or are unemployed while pregnant

You can get Maternity Allowance (MA) if:
you have changed jobs during pregnancy
you do not earn enough to get SMP
you are unemployed or self-employed during pregnancy

What is it?

Maternity Allowance (MA) is paid by Jobcentre Plus for 39 weeks. You may qualify for it if you do not qualify for SMP from your employer, for example, because you started a new job when you were already pregnant, your earnings are too low or you are self-employed.

Who gets it?

You can claim MA if:
you have worked for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the expected week of
childbirth, and
you can find 13 weeks (not necessarily in a row) in which you earned over £30 per week on average.

You should choose the weeks in which you earned the most. You can add together earnings from more than job. Both employed and self-employed work counts for Maternity Allowance.

If in doubt, ask your local Jobcentre Plus for form MA1 and make a claim. They will work out whether you can get the benefit. If you are not entitled to MA, they should automatically use the same claim form to check whether you can get Incapacity Benefit instead.