Shared Parental Pay Calculator

How Shared Parental Pay Works

Shared Parental Leave and Pay lets parents split the mother's maternity (or primary adopter's adoption) leave and pay between them. Once the mother formally ends, or "curtails", her Maternity/Adoption Leave and Pay, whatever is left of her 52-week leave and 39-week pay entitlement becomes a shared pool — up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay — that either parent can take, in blocks of a week or more, at any point in the child's first year.

Unlike Statutory Maternity or Adoption Pay, ShPP has no 90%-for-6-weeks higher tier. Every payable week is the lower of the flat statutory rate or 90% of average weekly earnings, from the first week to the last.

Eligibility for Shared Parental Pay

Both parents must independently meet a continuity-of-employment test to claim ShPP:

• At least 26 weeks of continuous employment with their own employer by the qualifying week
• Average weekly earnings of at least the Lower Earnings Limit (£129/week in 2026-27)
• The mother or primary adopter must be entitled to Maternity/Adoption Leave and Pay, or Maternity Allowance, and agree to curtail it
• Both parents give the required curtailment and booking notices to their own employer

Continuity of employment is tested separately for each parent — one parent not qualifying does not automatically disqualify the other, though it changes how much of the pool is available.

The curtailment pool, explained

The pool works from a fixed 39-week SMP/Maternity Allowance pay entitlement (and a 52-week leave entitlement). The mother must keep at least 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave for herself (4 weeks if she works in a factory), so the maximum that can ever be shared is 37 weeks of pay. Every extra week she uses beyond the compulsory minimum reduces the shared pool by one week — gov.uk's example is a mother who takes 22 weeks of Maternity Leave and SMP, leaving 30 weeks of Shared Parental Leave and 17 weeks of ShPP for the couple to split.

ShPP vs Statutory Paternity Pay

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) — up to 2 weeks around the birth or placement — is a separate entitlement from the ShPP pool, so claiming SPP does not use up any of the shared 39-week pay pool. A common pattern is to take the 2 weeks of SPP first, then a further block of ShPP later in the child's first year once the mother has curtailed her maternity pay. Use our Paternity Pay Calculator to model the SPP portion separately.

Tax and National Insurance

ShPP is paid through PAYE and is fully taxable — income tax and Class 1 National Insurance apply just like normal wages. Your Personal Allowance continues to apply, pension contributions continue, and you accrue holiday as normal during shared parental leave. To see your net pay, run the weekly amount through our Take-Home Pay Calculator.