Family leave
Shared parental leave and pay calculator
Enter how much maternity or adoption leave and pay the first parent has used: the calculator shows what is left to share and what the other parent would receive.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) lets a mother or primary adopter end maternity or adoption leave early and pass the remaining weeks to her partner, or take them herself in blocks. The pool is 52 weeks of leave minus the maternity or adoption leave taken, so at most 50 weeks once the two compulsory weeks after a birth are used, and 39 weeks of statutory pay minus the weeks of SMP, SAP or Maternity Allowance already paid, so at most 37 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP). ShPP is paid at £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, with no higher-rate weeks; each parent claiming it must earn at least £129 a week on average and meet the work tests. Leave and pay must be used within a year of the birth or placement, and each parent can book up to three separate blocks.
Left to share between you
32 weeks of leave
of which 19 weeks paid at up to £194.32 a week
| Other parent: 12 weeks of shared parental leave | £2,331.84 |
| Their weekly ShPP (lower of the flat rate and 90%) | £194.32 |
| Of their weeks, unpaid | 0 weeks |
| Still available for the first parent | 20 weeks of leave, 7 weeks of pay |
Up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay, used in the first year after the birth or placement, in up to three notified blocks each. Both parents must meet the work and earnings tests.
Reading the result
The top figure is the leave left to share. Under it, the line for the other parent shows the weeks they take, their weekly ShPP, the amount and how many of their weeks are unpaid because the pay pool runs out before the leave pool. With the example filled in, the mother has used 20 weeks of leave and 20 weeks of SMP: 32 weeks of leave and 19 weeks of pay are left, and a partner earning £820 a week who takes 12 weeks receives £2,331.84. The leave pool is always larger than the pay pool by 13 weeks, the unpaid tail of maternity leave.
The conditions behind the numbers
The parent taking SPL must be an employee with 26 weeks of service by the end of the 15th week before the due date (or by the matching week for adopters) and still employed in the week before the leave; the other parent must pass a lighter test of 26 weeks of work, employed or self-employed, in the 66 weeks before, with earnings of at least £390 in 13 of them. ShPP adds the £129 earnings test. Each block needs 8 weeks’ written notice. Northern Ireland runs the same scheme under its own regulations, with the same rates (nidirect).
Before choosing, compare with paternity pay: the two weeks of paternity leave are separate from SPL and, since April 2026 in Great Britain, can be taken before or after it.