There is a fuller version of this analysis. Maternity, adoption and neonatal pay: UK benchmark 2026 reports the same question from the 2026 H1 collection window, with the exact question wording, the base for every figure, the full distribution of answers and a data appendix. This page is the earlier August 2026 analysis, kept as published.
69% of UK organisations enhance maternity pay above the statutory rate — 43% enhance pay alone, and a further 26% enhance both leave and pay. The median organisation provides 12 weeks of enhanced maternity and adoption pay; the upper quartile provides 16 (lumi benchmark, n=257 and n=262, August 2026).
Key findings
- 69% enhance maternity pay above statutory: 43% enhance pay alone, and 26% enhance both leave and pay (n=257).
- The median enhancement is 12 weeks of maternity and adoption pay; the upper quartile is 16 weeks, and one in ten enhances for 30 weeks or more (n=262).
- Paternity enhancement is far thinner: the median is 2 weeks, with an upper quartile of 4 (n=267).
- 61% already offer paternity and parental leave from day one of employment; 39% do not yet (n=270).
How many UK employers enhance maternity pay above statutory?
Most do. Asked how their maternity and adoption provision compares with the statutory floor, 43% of contributing organisations enhance pay while keeping leave at statutory levels, and 26% enhance both leave and pay. Add those together and 69% pay above the statutory rate in some form. The remaining 31% keep pay at statutory: 27% offer statutory provision only, and 4% enhance leave but not pay (n=257).
Two things stand out. Enhancing pay, not just leave, is the norm: enhanced pay alone is the largest single group at 43%, and adding the 26% who enhance both takes the pay-enhancing total to 69%. And leave-only enhancement barely registers at 4% — when UK organisations improve on statutory maternity provision, they almost always put money behind it.
How many weeks of enhanced maternity pay do employers provide?
Across contributing organisations, the median is 12 weeks of enhanced maternity and adoption pay. The upper quartile is 16 weeks, one in ten organisations enhances for 30 weeks or more, and the longest reported enhancement runs a full 52 weeks (n=262).
One number needs care: the lower quartile is 0 weeks. That is not a typo — the weeks question covers the whole benchmark, including the organisations that enhance nothing, so at least a quarter report no enhanced weeks at all. It follows that the 12-week median is dragged down by those zeros; among organisations that do enhance, the typical enhancement sits above it. Read the median as the middle of the whole market, not the middle of the enhancers.
How does paternity pay compare?
Enhancement is much thinner on the paternity side. The median organisation provides 2 weeks of enhanced paternity pay, the upper quartile 4 weeks, and one in ten provides 8 weeks or more. The longest reported paternity enhancement is 26 weeks (n=267).
| Weeks of enhanced pay | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity & adoption (n=262) | 0 | 12 | 16 | 30 |
| Paternity (n=267) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
The gap between the two medians is six-fold — 12 weeks against 2 — so the generosity of a family-leave package is still overwhelmingly decided on the maternity side. And both lower quartiles sit at zero: enhancement is common but not universal for either parent, and any benchmark-wide figure includes organisations enhancing nothing.
Are employers ready for the new day-one and bereavement rights?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 made paternity and unpaid parental leave a day-one right from April 2026. As of August 2026, 61% of contributing organisations have made both available from day one of employment; 39% say they have not yet (n=270). For a change that is now in force, that is a sizeable tail still to catch up.
The same Act introduced a bereaved partner’s paternity entitlement. Here practice is earlier in its arc: 23% have enhanced pay above the statutory entitlement, 67% provide statutory only, and 10% have not yet reviewed it at all (n=265). Enhancement decisions on a low-incidence, high-stakes entitlement tend to follow the first real case — reviewing before that happens is cheaper in every sense.
What this means for a reward team
- Know which side of the 69% you sit on. Statutory-only maternity pay is now a minority position (27% of contributing organisations). If that is where you are, treat it as a deliberate choice you can defend, not a default — family policies are among the first things candidates compare.
- Position the weeks, not just the principle. If you enhance, the market shape is 12 weeks at the median and 16 at the upper quartile — and remember those benchmark-wide figures include non-enhancers, so the bar among enhancers is higher than the headline suggests.
- Audit the 2026 statutory changes now. With 39% yet to offer day-one paternity and parental leave and 10% yet to review the bereaved partner’s entitlement, a one-hour compliance check against the Employment Rights Act changes is the quickest risk reduction available this quarter.
About these figures
Figures are shares, medians or quartiles, as stated against each figure, computed across the lumi benchmark — the reward data of UK organisations that shared it with lumi directly, quality-assured metric by metric against our anchor register of graded published UK sources. As members join, their answers join the same pool. Each organisation reports one headline figure for its main population; comparisons are medians and percentiles, never averages, and when fewer than three organisations answered a question, the whole card is hidden.
Sample sizes are stated per figure and were computed in August 2026. Read the full methodology.