Disadvantages of maternity leave often involve career penalties, such as wage stagnation, slower promotion, and feeling detached from work, particularly with longer leaves, due to potential unconscious bias, workplace discrimination, and human capital depreciation. Employers face challenges like managing temporary coverage and training costs, while some employees experience frustration over unequal treatment or reduced motivation, and longer leaves can impact women's upward mobility.
Leaves of fewer than 12 weeks have been associated with higher maternal depression and anxiety, reduced sensitivity to the infant and knowledge of infant development, negative impact on self-esteem, work stress and overload, and marital dissatisfaction.
There is a tremendous amount of evidence that paid maternity leave improves outcomes for babies and families. I went through much of this in Cribsheet and also in this post from 2021. Paid leave decreases infant mortality, increases breastfeeding rates, and even translates to higher income decades later.
Maternity and parental leave FAQs
Standard Parental Benefits: Up to 40 weeks (one parent can receive a maximum of 35 weeks) at 55% of earnings, up to $695/week.
How much statutory maternity pay you'll get. Your statutory maternity pay lasts up to 39 weeks, made up of: 6 weeks getting 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax)
Rate of payment
The current payment for Parental Leave Pay is $189.62 a day before tax, or $948.10 per 5 day week. This is based on the weekly rate of the national minimum wage.
How you're paid. Maternity Allowance is paid every 2 or 4 weeks. All benefits, pensions and allowances are usually paid straight into your bank, building society or credit union account.
For more detailed information on maternity pay, see our pages on Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance, Enhanced Maternity Pay and Calculating Maternity Pay.
There's no set minimum figure you need in your bank to pay for your maternity leave (although many parents aim for about two months' salary worth of savings) and every new parent's situation is unique depending on their individual salary, whether they have a partner in work and their monthly outgoings.
Bulgaria has the best maternity leave: it mandates 58 weeks of time off at 90% salary. The international recommended minimum standard for maternity leave is 14 weeks.
Paid time off is necessary for many reasons. Pregnant and parenting people need time to recover after pregnancy and birth, care for and bond with a newborn (including, for most, to establish breastfeeding), adjust to changing family dynamics, and obtain postpartum and well-child care.
Statutory Maternity Leave
If you are employed and pregnant, you are entitled to 52 weeks (1 year) of maternity leave, no matter how long you've worked for your employer. This is made up of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks of additional maternity leave.
8 Questions to Ask HR About Maternity Leave
Here's what worked for us and how you can use these tips to ease the financial strain of maternity leave.
Better Life Lab recommends 52 weeks of paid leave for infant and child health and wellbeing, 6 months per parent. The child can respond to simple requests, say Mama and Dada, is shy around strangers, may take a few first steps.
You do not have to repay any Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance and you should continue to receive it from your employer/JobCentre Plus for the full 39 weeks even if you resign before the end of the maternity pay period. What happens if we have booked shared parental leave and one of us resigns?
The "3-2-1 Rule" in pregnancy is a guideline for first-time mothers to know when to call their midwife or doctor for active labor: consistent contractions every 3 minutes, lasting 2 minutes each (or 1 minute long for some variations), for over 1 hour. It helps differentiate true labor from false labor (Braxton Hicks), signaling it's time to head to the birthing center, while subsequent pregnancies often follow the faster 5-1-1 rule.
To make $2000 a month as a stay-at-home mom, combine flexible online work like freelance writing, virtual assistance, or social media management with scalable options such as selling digital products on Etsy, starting a blog with affiliate marketing, or dropshipping, leveraging your existing skills in areas like teaching, crafting, or organization to create diverse income streams.
No, you generally don't get 6 months of full pay on maternity leave in Australia; instead, the government offers Paid Parental Leave (PPL) at the National Minimum Wage for a set number of weeks (up to 24 weeks in 2025-2026, increasing to 26 weeks in 2026-2027). Many employers "top up" this payment to your full wage, or offer their own paid leave, but this depends on your contract or workplace policy, not a universal right to 6 months full pay.
Receive a free birthing pack by joining the Hipp Baby Club. Eligible families can apply for free Healthy Start vouchers. Low-income families can receive free baby clothes and equipment.
Romania leads the world with two full years of statutory maternity leave. South Korea isn't far behind at 90.9 weeks, followed by Poland at 61 weeks, Bulgaria at 58.6 weeks, and Sweden at 55.7 weeks. India sits in the middle of the pack: mothers are entitled to 26 weeks of leave, on par with much of Asia.
The full payment of maternity benefits shall be advanced by the employer within thirty (30) days from the filing of the maternity leave application.
When should I take my maternity leave? Some women begin taking their leave a week to a month before the expected birth because of discomfort or the desire for time to prepare. Others wait until the last moment so they can maximize their time with the baby once it arrives.
Statutory Maternity Pay ( SMP ) is paid for up to 39 weeks. You get: 90% of your average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks.