Teenage parents and benefits

Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay

You can get Maternity Allowance if you have worked in 26 weeks of the 66 weeks (approx. 1 year 3 months) before your baby is due and you earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of those weeks. You can claim it on form MA1 from your local Jobcentre Plus. It is paid for 39 weeks at 90 per cent of your average earnings or £112.75, whichever is less.

You can get Statutory Maternity Pay instead if you have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your baby is due, and you earned at least £87 a week on average.

This means you will need to have worked for the same employer since before you got pregnant, and you must still be working for them in the 15th week before your baby is due (about week 25 of pregnancy). It does not matter if you leave your job after this. You can claim SMP for full or part-time work. You should write to your employer to make the claim.

Other Help

You may also be able to get help with fares to hospital; free sight tests; vouchers for glasses; free vitamins; free school meals (for those on IS or income-based JSA or working less than 16 hours and on a low income). You can get Healthy Start help (vouchers for milk, vegetables, fruit or infant formula) if you are pregnant and under 18, or until your child is 4 if you are on IS or income-based JSA.

You may also be able to get Healthy Start help if you get child tax credit, you are on a low income, and neither you nor your partner work 16 or more hours a week.

Getting further advice

If you are a single parent you can get advice from One Parent Families and other organisations (see the Single Parent and not working factsheet). You can also get advice from Citizens Advice Bureaux, independent advice agencies and from the Working Families helpline, whether you are on your own or live with a partner.

Working Families
1-3 Berry Street
London EC1V 0AA
Helpline: 0800 013 0313
www.workingfamilies.org.uk