Maternity, adoption and neonatal pay: UK benchmark 2026

About the data

This paper reports how UK employers answered lumi's questions on maternity, adoption and neonatal pay. The lumi reward benchmark covers 269 UK organisations across 14 sectors and five size bands. Data was collected in the 2026 H1 collection window. Each figure gives its base (n): the number of organisations that answered that question. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place, so a distribution can add up to 100.1%. Figures here are national. Sector and size comparisons are available to lumi members. See how lumi works for the method.

The legal context

The questions in this paper measure provision above statutory entitlements. The level and length of any enhancement is not set by statute.

Two changes to the wider family leave framework took effect on 6 April 2026:

• Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights.
• Bereaved partner's paternity leave was introduced, of up to 52 weeks if the mother or primary adopter dies.

Two further changes are scheduled for 2027, with timing to be confirmed: enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers, and bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss. None of these changes sets the rate or duration of maternity, adoption or neonatal pay above statutory.

What percentage of UK employers offer enhanced maternity and adoption pay?

The first question asks: How does your maternity and adoption pay compare to statutory provision? (n = 256)

Enhanced pay (above statutory) is the common answer, at 43.8%. Two answers are alternatives: statutory pay only, at 26.6%, and a combination of enhanced leave and pay, at 25.4%. Enhanced leave only, with statutory pay, is rare at 4.3%.

The four answers sort along two separate levers: the rate paid during leave, and the length of the leave itself. Read by pay, 69.2% enhance pay in some form (43.8% + 25.4%), and 30.9% provide statutory pay (26.6% + 4.3%). Read by leave, 29.7% enhance leave in some form (25.4% + 4.3%). Counting any enhancement to either pay or leave, the figure is 73.5% (43.8% + 25.4% + 4.3%).

For someone designing family pay, this shows where organisations put their enhancement. In this base, pay is enhanced more often than leave: 69.2% (43.8% + 25.4%) against 29.7% (25.4% + 4.3%). Enhancing leave while keeping statutory pay is the rare route. An organisation that enhances leave alone offers more leave, while pay stays at statutory provision.

The question covers maternity and adoption together. Each organisation gives one answer for both, so the figures do not show whether an organisation sets different terms for birth mothers and for adopters. The benchmark's separate question on surrogacy, reported below, asks about parity with adoption directly.

How many weeks of enhanced maternity and adoption pay do UK employers provide?

The second question asks: How many weeks of enhanced maternity and adoption pay are provided? (n = 261)

The median is 12 weeks. The 25th percentile is 0 weeks and the 75th percentile is 16 weeks. Answers range from 0 to 52 weeks.

Zero is a recorded answer. Both the 25th percentile and the bottom of the range are 0 weeks. The median of 12 weeks is therefore a figure across all respondents, including organisations that provide no enhanced weeks. It is not a median for enhancing organisations alone, which this paper does not report.

An organisation at the 25th percentile provides no enhanced weeks. This sits alongside the previous question, where 30.9% provide statutory pay (26.6% + 4.3%). The two questions have different bases, 256 and 261, so their figures are not reconciled against each other here.

At the upper end, an organisation at the 75th percentile provides 16 weeks of enhanced pay. The top of the range is 52 weeks, so at least one organisation reports 52 weeks of enhanced pay.

The question counts weeks, not the rate paid in each week. A week at full pay and a week with a partial top-up above statutory count the same. Two organisations that report the same number of weeks can therefore spend different amounts per employee on leave. For anyone comparing a policy with these figures, duration and rate are separate design choices, and this metric sees only duration.

Do UK employers enhance neonatal care pay or match surrogacy to adoption?

Neonatal care leave

The benchmark asks: Do you provide paid neonatal care leave above the statutory entitlement (Neonatal Care Act, April 2025)? (n = 267)

Statutory only is the common answer, at 67.0%. Enhanced pay is an alternative, at 24.0%. Enhanced pay + leave is rare, at 9.0%. In total, 33.0% enhance neonatal care pay in some form (24.0% + 9.0%). No answer in this question records enhanced leave without enhanced pay.

The pattern differs from maternity and adoption pay. There, enhanced pay (above statutory) is the common answer. For neonatal care, statutory only is the common answer. The two questions are reported separately, so the data does not show how many organisations enhance one and not the other.

For someone designing family pay, this means an enhanced maternity and adoption policy and an enhanced neonatal policy are separate choices in this data. An organisation can enhance one without the other, and the benchmark records each decision on its own terms.

Surrogacy

The benchmark asks: Is surrogacy treated with parity to adoption in pay and leave policies? (n = 267)

Not addressed is the common answer, at 70.4%. Partial is rare, at 18.4%, and full parity is rare, at 11.2%. Taken together, 29.6% give surrogacy some degree of parity with adoption (18.4% + 11.2%).

"Not addressed" is not the same as a decision to treat surrogacy differently from adoption. It records that the policy is silent. Where a policy is silent, the terms for an employee becoming a parent through surrogacy are settled when a case arises, rather than set in advance. The "Partial" answer covers some mix of pay and leave terms; the data does not say which elements are covered.

Do UK employers provide return-to-work support after family leave?

The benchmark asks: Is structured return-to-work support provided after extended family leave (e.g. coaching, phased return beyond statutory)? (n = 264)

Neither is the common answer, at 64.4%. Phased return only is an alternative, at 20.5%. Coaching plus phased return is rare, at 15.2%. Adding the two, 35.7% provide a phased return (20.5% + 15.2%). No answer option records coaching on its own, so the question cannot show coaching provided without a phased return.

Return-to-work support sits at the end of the leave period that the pay questions cover. The question refers to extended family leave in general, not to maternity or adoption leave alone. It carries its own costs. Coaching is a service the organisation buys in or provides internally. A phased return changes working hours for a period and, depending on design, pay. The question does not record how reduced hours are paid during a phased return, or how long a phased return lasts.

For a reward designer, the figures show that support at the point of return is a separate decision from pay during leave. An organisation can enhance pay during leave and provide no structured support on return, or the reverse. Each question here is reported on its own, so the data does not show how often the two go together.

What the data means for reward decisions

Rate or length. The benchmark separates the rate of pay from the length of leave. On the first question, 69.2% enhance pay in some form (43.8% + 25.4%) and 29.7% enhance leave in some form (25.4% + 4.3%) (n = 256). The weeks question adds duration, with a median of 12 weeks (n = 261). A given budget can fund more weeks with a smaller top-up, or fewer weeks at a higher rate. The questions a reward team would ask: which of these does our policy put first, and was that a deliberate choice?

Statutory as a position. Statutory pay only is an alternative for maternity and adoption pay, at 26.6% (n = 256). For neonatal care, statutory only is the common answer, at 67.0% (n = 267). Providing statutory pay only keeps the cost of family pay at the statutory level and avoids setting eligibility rules for an enhanced scheme. Enhancing pay adds cost and involves those rules. The questions a reward team would ask: what is enhancement expected to achieve, for which employees, and how would the organisation know whether it had?

Consistency across routes to parenthood. Maternity and adoption are asked about together, and each organisation gives one answer for both. Surrogacy is not addressed at 70.4% of organisations (n = 267). Neonatal care pay is statutory only at 67.0% (n = 267). The questions a reward team would ask: does our policy give the same terms to every route by which an employee becomes a parent? Does it give the same terms to parents whose baby needs neonatal care? Where the policy is silent, who decides, and on what basis?

The end of leave. Neither coaching nor a phased return is provided at 64.4% of organisations (n = 264). The questions a reward team would ask: what happens in the first weeks after an employee returns? Is any support linked to the length of leave taken? If a phased return is offered, how are the reduced hours paid?

What these figures do not show. Eligibility conditions such as length of service, any repayment terms, and the rate at which enhanced weeks are paid are outside the questions reported here. Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave have been day-one rights. Whether an organisation's enhanced maternity, adoption or neonatal terms carry a service condition is a design question these figures do not answer.

Related

• How to write an enhanced maternity and adoption pay policy — a step-by-step guide to setting the rate, the number of enhanced weeks and the eligibility rules.
• Paternity and shared parental leave — national figures on the other side of the family leave package.
• Carer’s, bereavement and compassionate leave — national figures on the remaining forms of paid leave for family circumstances.

Notes

• Base, "Not applicable" handling and rounding are as described in "About the data".
• No question in this paper excludes "Not applicable" from its base.
• Combined figures add the listed percentages of answers within a single question, and the parts are shown each time. Because each part is rounded, a combined figure can differ slightly from the unrounded total.
• The weeks question (n = 261) is reported as a median and quartiles. Zero is a recorded answer and is included in those statistics. Its base differs from that of the pay comparison question (n = 256), and the two are not reconciled against each other.

Data appendix

Every question on this page, with its base and full distribution, as a spreadsheet: download the CSV.

All national figures used in this paper, as recorded in the lumi reward benchmark (collection window 2026 H1).

How does your maternity and adoption pay compare to statutory provision?
Base: 256 organisations

How many weeks of enhanced maternity and adoption pay are provided?
Base: 261 organisations

Median 12 · 25th percentile 0 · 75th percentile 16 · range 0 to 52 weeks

Do you provide paid neonatal care leave above the statutory entitlement (Neonatal Care Act, April 2025)?
Base: 267 organisations

Is surrogacy treated with parity to adoption in pay and leave policies?
Base: 267 organisations

Is structured return-to-work support provided after extended family leave (e.g. coaching, phased return beyond statutory)?
Base: 264 organisations

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