SMP vs Shared Parental Pay

Edited by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder of Digital Signet. Last reviewed 23 June 2026.

Direct answer

Same rate, different shape

ShPP pays 194.32 per week, the same as the flat-rate phase of SMP. You can curtail SMP after the compulsory 2 weeks and convert the unused 37 weeks of pay into a pool that either parent can claim, in blocks of at least one week. The downside is real: most enhanced maternity pay schemes only pay the enhanced element if you stay on SMP, so switching often costs you several thousand pounds of contractual pay.

When ShPP is the better choice

Your partner has a more generous enhanced ShPP scheme than your enhanced SMP.
Your partner earns less than you and is happier to take time off than to keep earning.
You want overlapping leave with your partner for a period.
You have no enhanced maternity pay (SMP only), so the contractual loss is zero.

When SMP is the better choice

Your employer offers enhanced maternity pay significantly above SMP.
Your partner's employer pays statutory only and so ShPP would not enhance.
You want the protected 18-month redundancy window that follows maternity leave specifically.

Worked example

Birth parent on 40,000 with an enhanced maternity scheme paying full pay for 18 weeks. Partner on 35,000 with statutory-only ShPP. If birth parent curtails SMP at week 18 and switches to ShPP, the household keeps the 18 weeks of enhanced maternity pay (already taken) and the unused 21 weeks become a ShPP pool. Partner takes 21 weeks of ShPP at 194.32 per week, total 4,080.72. If birth parent had stayed on SMP they would have received 21 weeks of statutory 194.32, the same 4,080.72, but only one parent would have been able to take that time off.

Mechanics of curtailment

You give your employer a written curtailment notice ending SMP and a notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL. Your partner gives matching notices to their employer. 8 weeks notice is the statutory minimum for each leave block under ShPL.