HL Deb 05 February 1998 vol 585 cc130-2WA
Baroness Jeger

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many women are receiving maternity allowance of £1,800 a week; and how this amount is divided between the employer and social security funds. [HL92]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham):

The information is not available in the format requested. In 1995–96, the latest tax year for which information is available, the average total payment received by the 10 per cent. of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) recipients getting the highest amounts of SMP was £3,570. The average total payment received by the 20 per cent. of SMP recipients getting the lowest amounts was £1,000.

Employers administer the SMP scheme. Larger employers are reimbursed 92 per cent. of the SMP they pay out. Smaller employers, those with gross National Insurance payments of £20,000 a year or less, are reimbursed the full cost of SMP.

Sources:

  1. 1.The Lifetime Labour Market Database (LLMDB) a 1 per cent. sample of the National Insurance Recording System taken at February 1997.
  2. 2. Figures are for Great Britain and are rounded to the nearest £10.
  3. 3. The number of women who received SMP during 1995–96 is an estimate which excludes those whose claim spans two tax years. It also excludes those who legitimately have more than one SMP claim during the year.