Paternity leave and pay: what fathers and partners get

The short answer: In 2026/27 you can take 1 or 2 weeks' paternity leave from your first day in a job. Statutory Paternity Pay is £194.32 a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that's lower. The pay needs 26 weeks with your employer and £129 a week in earnings. Self-employed partners get no paternity pay until April 2029.

Your partner's leave gets planned for months. Yours gets two weeks and a shrug.

Two weeks is the legal maximum, so there isn't much to decide. But there is something to check. Leave and pay have separate tests, and plenty of people assume the two come together. One you have on day one. The other you have to earn.

How long is paternity leave in the UK?

You can take up to 2 weeks of paternity leave. You can take the 2 weeks together, or as two separate one-week blocks. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Leave.

A few rules shape when you take it:

• A week means your normal working week. If you only work Mondays and Tuesdays, a week of leave is 2 days.

• It can't start before the birth. You can give a general start time, such as the day of the birth or one week after.

• It must end within 52 weeks of the birth (or the due date, if the baby comes early). So you can keep a week back for later in the year.

• Northern Ireland has its own rules.

All four points come from GOV.UK's leave rules. Since 6 April 2026, employees can take paternity leave from their first day in a job. Before that, you needed 26 weeks with your employer first. Acas: Paternity leave rights.

How much is statutory paternity pay?

For 2026/27, Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is £194.32 a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that's lower. These rates apply from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. HMRC: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027.

You get it for up to 2 weeks. Acas: Statutory paternity pay. It's paid the same way as your wages, weekly or monthly, and tax and National Insurance come off. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Pay.

Example: two weeks of paternity pay, worked through

These are made-up, round figures to show how the "whichever is lower" rule works.

The table assumes you qualify for SPP, your leave is in 2026/27 and your employer pays nothing extra. Once you earn about £216 a week or more, 90% of your pay is higher than £194.32, so the flat rate applies.

Is Statutory Paternity Pay going up in April 2027?

Statutory pay is going up by 3.5% in 2027/28, but the new paternity pay rate hasn't been published yet.

On 28 October 2026, the Work and Pensions Secretary said statutory payments, including Statutory Maternity Pay, will rise by 3.5%. That's in line with inflation (CPI) in the year to September 2026. The new rates mostly start from 12 April 2027. DWP: Statutory review of state pension and benefit rates 2027/28. The full list of 2027/28 rates is due "in due course".

If paternity pay goes up by the same 3.5%, the flat rate would be about £201.12 a week (£194.32 × 1.035). That's our own sum, not an official figure. Until the new rates come out, plan with £194.32.

Do you get full pay on paternity leave?

Not by law. The legal minimum is SPP, so most people on a normal salary get less than their usual pay for those 2 weeks. Full pay only happens if your employer's own scheme pays it.

Your employer can't pay you less than the statutory amount, but they can choose to pay more. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Pay. This is often called "enhanced" or "contractual" paternity pay, and it's set out in your contract. Acas: Statutory paternity pay.

When you read the policy, ask one question: is the figure the total, or is SPP paid on top? Our guide to what you actually get paid on maternity leave shows why that wording matters.

Enhanced pay can come with strings. Your contract might say you pay it back if you don't return to work. You never have to pay back SPP itself. Acas: Statutory paternity pay.

Is paternity leave paid, and who pays it?

Yes, if you qualify for SPP. Your employer pays it through payroll, then claims most of it back from HMRC.

Most employers get back 92% of the SPP they pay. Smaller employers get back 109% if their total Class 1 National Insurance was £45,000 or less in the previous tax year. HMRC: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. They claim it through their payroll returns to HMRC. GOV.UK: Get financial help with statutory pay.

So a small employer that qualifies gets back a little more than it pays you, which might make that chat with your boss a bit easier.

If you don't qualify for the pay, your employer must tell you why within 28 days, using form SPP1. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Eligibility. You can still take the unpaid leave if you're an employee.

Who can get paternity leave and pay?

It isn't just for fathers. You can qualify if you're taking time off to look after the child and you are:

• the father

• the husband or partner of the mother or adopter, including same-sex partners

• the child's adopter

• the intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement

That list is from GOV.UK's eligibility rules. The leave and the pay then have different tests:

The table shows the 2026/27 rules for a birth, from GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Eligibility. The "qualifying week" is the 15th week before the baby is due. Your average earnings are worked out over the 8 weeks up to that week. Acas: Statutory paternity pay. Adoption has slightly different rules.

Some people can get the pay but not the leave. If your legal status is "worker" rather than employee (some agency staff, for example), you might get SPP without the right to paternity leave. Acas: Paternity leave rights.

Can self-employed dads get paternity pay?

Not yet. Self-employed people don't have the rights of an employee, so there's no SPP or paternity leave from your own business. GOV.UK: Employment status, Self-employed and contractor. If you also have a job, you might qualify through that job.

That changes from April 2029. In the Budget on 28 October 2026, the government said eligible self-employed fathers, partners and adopters in Great Britain will be able to get parental pay from April 2029. It's called a Parental Allowance, and it's expected to help over 150,000 parents a year. HM Treasury: Budget 2026. The Treasury says it gives two weeks of support, currently worth up to £194 a week. HM Treasury: Everyday fixes to make life easier for millions of Britons.

The table shows what the Budget announced. The detailed rules are still to come.

The new payment should help some people who aren't self-employed too. People who are recently employed or unemployed, or whose work has been broken or irregular, may also benefit if they miss out on SPP or adoption pay. They'll need enough work and earnings history. HM Treasury: Budget 2026.

What isn't known yet:

• how you'll claim it

• the exact work and earnings test

• the rate in 2029, since "up to £194" is today's value

Until April 2029, today's rules apply. If you're self-employed with a baby on the way, any time off still has to come out of your own savings or household income. Our guide to having a baby when you're self-employed covers the money side.

Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.

When do you need to tell your employer?

You claim through your employer, and you don't need to prove the pregnancy or birth. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, How to claim. There are three deadlines:

1. 15 weeks before the due date: tell your employer when the baby is due. You can use the government's online form, or your employer's own form if they have one.

2. 28 days before your leave starts: tell them when you want it to start and whether you want 1 or 2 weeks.

3. 28 days before a new start date: if your plans change, give 28 days' notice of the new date.

The first two are in GOV.UK's guide to claiming, and the third is on GOV.UK's pay page. Both of the main notice periods apply in full if your baby is due on or after 26 July 2026.

Babies don't read calendars, so tie your start date to the birth ("the day of the birth" or "one week after") rather than a fixed date.

What happens to your pension and benefits on paternity leave?

Your job and most of your rights carry on as normal. You still get any pay rises, you keep building up holiday, and you have the right to go back to your job. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave.

Workplace pension contributions carry on during paid leave. Your own payment is based on what you're actually paid, so it may drop for those 2 weeks. Your employer's payment is based on the salary you'd have had if you weren't on leave. GOV.UK: Workplace pensions, Changing jobs and taking leave. If any of your leave is unpaid, pension contributions usually stop for that time, unless your contract says otherwise. GOV.UK: Employee rights when taking maternity and other types of parental leave.

Capital at risk. The value of your pension can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay in.

If your household gets Universal Credit, Statutory Paternity Pay is counted as earnings, just like your wages. So it can lower your award rather than sit on top of it. DWP: Universal Credit and earnings. The new parent benefits checker can help you see what other support your family might get.

How does paternity leave fit with shared parental leave?

Two weeks goes quickly. Shared Parental Leave is how most partners get more time off. Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay between them. GOV.UK: Shared Parental Leave and Pay.

You can take paternity leave and Shared Parental Leave in any order. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Leave. For the shared part:

• the mother or adopter cuts their maternity or adoption leave short, and the weeks left over are shared

• Statutory Shared Parental Pay is £194.32 a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if lower (GOV.UK: Shared Parental Leave, What you'll get)

• you must be an employee to get the leave, and earn on average at least £129 a week to get the pay (GOV.UK: Shared Parental Leave, Eligibility for birth parents)

Which maternity pay your partner gets matters here too, and our guide to SMP or Maternity Allowance explains the two routes. Our guide to Shared Parental Leave covers the tests and what sharing does to pay and pensions.

Still got questions?

Do you get more paternity leave for twins? No. You get the same 2 weeks of leave even if you have more than one baby, such as twins. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Leave.

Is paternity leave changing in 2027? The government's Parental Leave and Pay Review will finish in early 2027. HM Treasury: Budget 2026. Until any changes are announced, the rules in this guide apply.

How is paternity pay worked out? Your employer works out your average weekly earnings over 8 weeks, up to the qualifying week. You get 90% of that average or £194.32 a week, whichever is lower. Acas: Statutory paternity pay.

Do I have to pay back paternity pay if I don't go back to work? Not SPP. You don't have to repay it if you don't return after your leave. Enhanced pay from your employer might have to be repaid if your contract says so. Acas: Statutory paternity pay.

Can I get time off for antenatal appointments? Yes. You can take unpaid time off to go with your partner to 2 antenatal appointments, for up to 6 and a half hours each. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Leave.

Is there any other leave I can take? You might be able to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave for each child, up to their 18th birthday. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave, Leave.