If you work for yourself and you’ve got a baby on the way, you’ve probably already done the sums. Take two weeks off when the baby arrives and that’s two weeks with nothing coming in. No paternity pay, no sick pay, no nothing. Just the bills, and a newborn who doesn’t care what your invoices look like.
That’s finally changing. This week the government announced a new Parental Allowance, which will give eligible self employed dads and partners two weeks of pay when their baby arrives. It was trailed on Monday as one of the Treasury’s “everyday fixes” and confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget, and Netmums has a good rundown of what it means for families.
There is a catch, mind. It doesn’t start until April 2029.
So here’s what we actually know, what we don’t, and what you can sort now if your baby’s due a lot sooner than that.
What’s been announced?
The detail is in the Budget’s policy costings document, which is about as thrilling as it sounds (I read it so you don’t have to). The new allowance is broadly modelled on Maternity Allowance, the payment self employed mums can already get, and it covers dads, partners and adopters who can’t get Statutory Paternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay at the moment.
In plain English:
- Self employed dads and partners would get two weeks paid at somewhere between £27 a week and the full statutory rate, which is £194.32 a week right now. Where you land depends on your National Insurance contributions.
- Employed dads who don’t qualify for paternity pay, because they haven’t been in the job long enough or don’t earn enough, plus some who’ve recently been out of work, would get two weeks at £194.32 or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
- Adopters in the same position would get up to 39 weeks on the same basis.
- It applies in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland isn’t included.
The government says it expects more than 150,000 parents to benefit each year. Same sex partners are covered too.
What we don’t know yet
Quite a lot, to be fair. Ministers say the detailed eligibility rules will be confirmed later. All we’ve been told is that you’ll need “sufficient work and earnings history”. Nobody knows yet how much National Insurance you’ll need to have paid, how you’ll claim, or exactly which babies count from April 2029.
The £194.32 figure is also today’s rate. The costings assume it goes up with inflation, so the real number in 2029 should be a bit higher, but it hasn’t been set.
And you can’t apply for anything yet. If anyone’s offering to “register you” for it, ignore them.
If your baby’s due before 2029
Which, let’s be honest, is most of you reading this. Nobody told me how much of the first year is admin, so here’s the stuff worth checking now.
If you’re employed, check you qualify for Statutory Paternity Pay. According to GOV.UK, you need to have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the due date, earn at least £129 a week on average before tax, still be employed there up to the birth, and give the right notice. If you don’t qualify, your employer has to tell you why within 28 days using form SPP1.
I’m an electrician, but I’m on the books at a housing association, so when Finn arrived in the summer my two weeks of paternity pay came through work. I still nearly missed the notice deadline (I’d assumed you just told your boss when the baby came, obviously). You need to tell your employer the due date at least 15 weeks before the baby is expected, then give 28 days’ notice of when you want your leave to start.
If you’ve just started a new job, the leave and the pay are different things. GOV.UK says you can take up to two weeks of Paternity Leave from your first day in a job, as long as you give the right notice, but you might not get paid for it if you haven’t hit the 26 weeks. That’s exactly the gap the new allowance is meant to close, three years from now.
If you’re self employed, there’s no paternity pay of any kind until 2029, so it’s down to planning. A fair few of the lads I did my apprenticeship with went self employed, and if I were in their boots I’d be putting a bit aside every month from the 12 week scan onwards, so those first two weeks are already paid for before the baby’s here.
It’s also worth looking at what your partner can get, because there’s more support on her side:
- If she’s self employed, she can usually get Maternity Allowance for up to 39 weeks, at between £27 and £194.32 a week depending on her Class 2 National Insurance. GOV.UK says she can top up missing contributions after she applies to get the higher rate.
- If you’re married or in a civil partnership and she does unpaid work for your business (the books, the phone, the invoices), GOV.UK says she might get Maternity Allowance of £27 a week for up to 14 weeks. For that, you need to be registered as self employed with HMRC and paying Class 2 National Insurance. Not a fortune, but it’s not nothing either.
- If you get certain benefits and this is your first baby, you might be able to claim a one off Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 in England and Wales. In Scotland it’s the Pregnancy and Baby Payment instead, through Social Security Scotland.
What people are saying
The reaction has mostly been “about time”, with a fair bit of “is that it?” tucked behind it.
George Gabriel from the dads’ campaign group The Dad Shift welcomed it in the government’s own announcement and said he hoped the wider review of parental leave would go further. The self employed body IPSE called it a significant step after years of campaigning, but says it’ll keep pushing for six weeks of paid leave for all dads. Adoption UK welcomed the adoption side, while pointing out it doesn’t fix every gap for adoptive families, according to Netmums. And an employment lawyer quoted by Personnel Today made the obvious point that the headline leaves a lot of questions about eligibility unanswered.
That wider review is the one to watch. In a written answer to Parliament this week, the government said it will report in early 2027, with next steps for any reforms. So two weeks for self employed dads might not be the last word.
Is it just me, or is two weeks still pure tight? Finn’s four months now and I can tell you the first fortnight is mostly a blur of nappies, visitors and trying to remember if anyone’s eaten. Still. For the dads who’ve been going straight back on the tools a few days after the birth because they had no choice, it’s a start.
If you’re self employed with a baby due before then, have a wee look at your partner’s options, start that pot now, and keep an eye out for the rules once they’re published. We’ll update you when they are.
If you want to push for better paternity leave and pay for every dad, take a look at The Dad Shift, the UK campaign fighting for exactly that.
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