Plan maternity, paternity and shared parental leave together - who's off when, paid or unpaid, week by week and month by month, with KIT days and child benefit. UK, 2024/25-2026/27.
Follow the steps below to plan your Shared Parental Leave and see your take-home (net) pay - after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan, worked out with cumulative PAYE across the tax year (so it captures the tax refunds you get as your pay drops during leave). Enter your salary as gross and the tool does the deductions, showing gross alongside net. Take-home needs a due date, so the planner opens in Dates mode. Only your earnings and leave blocks are essential - the rest fine-tune the figures.
Then unlock the results for £1.50 to see your take-home timeline (coloured by pay type, with zoom), the week-by-week and month-by-month tables (net, with gross shown alongside), the income chart, and net totals for each parent and the household. Tick "include full pay when back at work" anywhere to fold in each parent's normal salary for the weeks they're not on leave, and use the chart's start/length boxes to set the range.
This calculator is for employees who get Statutory Maternity/Shared Parental Pay through PAYE. If you're self-employed you'll usually claim Maternity Allowance instead, which works differently - use our self-employed maternity tool for that.
On a low income during leave? When your household income drops - especially in the unpaid weeks - you may be able to claim Universal Credit or other support. It's worth checking on GOV.UK or with a benefits calculator; this tool doesn't include means-tested benefits.
Weeks are relative to the birth (week 0). Switch to Dates and add a due date to see calendar months.
Use gross pay. Gross is your pay before deductions (tax, National Insurance, pension, student loan) - the bigger figure on your payslip. Net is what actually lands in your bank account. Statutory pay is worked out from your gross earnings.
Statutory weekly rate this year: . To qualify, each parent must earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit ().
A monthly salary is usually the same each month; statutory pay is legally weekly, so its months vary unless your employer averages it. Each parent's cut-off and payday shift which month their pay lands in - useful when you're paid on different days. These only apply in Dates mode.
Pension tax treatment. Net pay - taken before tax, so you get full relief automatically (most workplace schemes; not sure? use this). Relief at source - taken after tax, then your provider adds 20% back into the pot (e.g. NEST, personal pensions). Salary sacrifice - you swap salary for pension and save both tax and National Insurance (most efficient). Salary sacrifice is an ongoing swap each pay period, not a one-off lump sum. Basis is what the % is applied to: Whole pay uses your full salary; Qualifying earnings band uses only pay between £6,240 and £50,270 (the auto-enrolment minimum), so the contribution is a little lower. Whole pay is a common default.
Take-home is worked out with cumulative PAYE (like your payslip builds up over the year), National Insurance, pension and student loan. It needs a due date - the tool is set to Dates mode below; enter your due date so the tax months line up.
A bonus is added to that month's pay, so you'll see the extra tax and NI on it. A pay rise lifts your salary for working months from that date (statutory pay stays on your pre-leave earnings). For commission or variable pay, enter your true average weekly/monthly earnings in section 1 - that's what statutory pay is based on.
Week 0 = the birth. Negative weeks are before the birth (maternity can start up to 11 weeks early). Rows sort themselves by week, so add blocks in any order - the "Covers" column shows each block's span.
| Who | Type | Start | Weeks | Covers | Pay |
|---|
Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum. This is usually for a set period of time. Add tiers as "weeks at % of full pay", e.g. 6 weeks at 100%, then 12 weeks at 50%.
Child benefit is £ a week for your family once the baby's added. Existing children are counted from the start. You claim after the birth and it can be backdated up to 3 months - to claim from birth, leave the start week at 0. To claim later and backdate it, set the week and tick Backdated to see the catch-up paid as a lump that week. If the higher earner is over £60,000 some is clawed back through the High Income Charge (all of it by £80,000); leave the income box at 0 to estimate it from the earnings above.
Keeping in Touch (KIT) days let mum work up to 10 days on maternity leave; SPLIT days let each parent work up to 20 days on shared leave - without losing statutory pay. Enter the number of days (they count toward your 10/20 limit); a day paid at your day rate (weekly pay ÷ 5). If you only work part of a day, add the hours and you're paid for those instead (weekly pay ÷ your usual hours).
You accrue holiday the whole time you're on leave, but you can't take it during maternity or parental leave. Banked days (accrued before going on leave) can be used before you go on leave or afterwards. Days accrued while you're off are usually added at the end for extra paid time or for a staggered return (e.g. return to work 4 days a week, holiday covering the 5th). Add a Holiday block in section 2 to place them. Based on a 5-day week; holiday is paid at full pay. Statutory minimum is 28 days (5.6 weeks), often more if your employer adds bank holidays.
See your timeline, the week-by-week and month-by-month tables, the income chart and your totals. One-off £1.50 via Ko-fi - no sign-up, no card details touch Fawnly.
Unlock for £1.50 on Ko-fiTake-home (net) is worked out with cumulative PAYE income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan for each parent, plus child benefit - across the tax year, so it captures the tax refunds you get as pay drops during leave. Gross is shown alongside. Needs a due date (Dates mode). Totals cover the months shown. General information, not financial advice - check your payslips and GOV.UK.
"Joint" is Mum + Partner + child benefit. Months are approximate 4.3-week periods measured from your first leave week.
With a due date set, the chart shows take-home (net) per parent per month. Tick "include full pay when back at work" to fold in working months too, so you see the dip during leave and the return to work.
It's a planning estimate for employees paid through PAYE. It deliberately doesn't include:
Figures are close estimates for the 2024/25-2026/27 tax years - planning guidance, not financial advice. Always check your payslips and GOV.UK.
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) lets eligible parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of statutory pay in the baby's first year. The mother ends her maternity leave and pay early, enabling the remaining weeks to be split between both parents. This can be taken together, in turns or in separate blocks.
£194.32 a week for 2026/27 (£187.18 for 2025/26), or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that's lower. It is the same rate as statutory maternity pay after the first 6 weeks.
There are 39 weeks of statutory pay in total. Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) is whatever is left after maternity leave. It is compulsory for the mum to take the first 2 weeks after birth, so a maximum of 37 weeks can be paid as ShPP.
Yes. The mother can end her maternity leave early and take the remaining weeks as shared parental leave herself, and/or share them with her partner.
No. To create shared leave and pay, the mother must end her maternity leave and those weeks become a shared pool.
Yes. You can be off together, or take turns.
No. Each parent can take their shared leave in up to 3 separate blocks. However, taking it in non-continuous blocks needs your employer's agreement.
Yes. Statutory paternity leave (2 weeks) is separate and additional to any shared parental leave.
Some employers pay more than the statutory minimum. Check your handbook to find out if you qualify for enhanced pay, and what your employer contributes.
Keeping in Touch (KIT) days let a mother work up to 10 days during maternity leave; Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) days let each parent work up to 20 days during shared leave. Whether you are paid a full day for, say, 4 hours' work, or only for the hours you work, is up to your employer - but each day counts toward your 10 KIT or 20 SPLIT limit even if you only work part of it.
Separate from shared parental leave, each parent can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child up to their 18th birthday. This is capped at 4 weeks a year and must be taken in whole weeks. From April 2026 it has been available from your first day at a job.
You keep accruing annual leave the whole time you're on leave, but you can't take it during maternity or parental leave.
Net - this tool shows your take-home pay after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan, with the gross figure shown alongside. It uses cumulative PAYE across the whole tax year, so it reflects the way real payroll works.
Income tax (using your tax code and region), National Insurance, any pension contribution, and student loan repayments. Child benefit is then added on top. Set these per parent under "Take-home details".
Because PAYE is cumulative. Your tax-free allowance is spread evenly across the year, so when your pay drops during leave you've often "overpaid" tax earlier - and payroll refunds some of it, softening the drop. This tool models that year-long build-up rather than each month in isolation.
It sets your tax-free allowance. Standard is 1257L (£12,570 free). BR taxes everything at 20% (common for a second job), 0T gives no allowance, D0 taxes everything at 40%. Enter a custom code if yours differs - it changes how much tax comes off.
Choose how it's taken: net pay (before tax, full relief automatically), relief at source (after tax, provider adds 20% back), or salary sacrifice (saves tax and NI). You can also base the % on your whole pay or just the qualifying earnings band, and add a one-off top-up.
Pick your student loan plan (1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate) and repayments are worked out on earnings above that plan's threshold. Marriage Allowance lets a lower earner transfer £1,260 of allowance to a basic-rate partner - set who receives or transfers it and the tax adjusts.
From April 2025, if your baby is admitted to neonatal care for 7+ continuous days in the first 28 days, each parent can take up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave, paid at the statutory rate - on top of your other leave. Add it as a "Neonatal care" block.
They're a close estimate built the way payroll works, but they can't capture every employer quirk (benefits in kind, unusual codes, mid-year changes). Treat them as planning guidance and check against your payslips. This is general information, not financial advice.
Statutory pay is legally weekly, so a month with five weeks in it comes out higher than one with four.
By default the numbers show only your leave pay. Tick this box to add each parent's normal full salary for the weeks they're not on leave.
Yes. To create shared leave and pay, the mother must end (or agree to end) her maternity leave and pay early. The first 2 weeks after the birth are compulsory maternity leave and can't be shared.
Up to 52 weeks between you in the baby's first year. Paternity leave, and any holiday and unpaid leave, can be added on top.
Yes. Everything is worked out entirely in your own browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server, saved or shared.
General information, not financial or legal advice. Figures use published GOV.UK statutory rates and standard rules; your employer's policy and personal circumstances can differ. © 2026 Fawnly.