New statutory payment rates for 2026/27 have been confirmed, including increases to Statutory Sick Pay and family-related payments in line with inflation.
The statutory payment rates for the 2026/27 tax year have now been confirmed following the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2026.
ICB previously reported that the Autumn Budget announced increases to working-age benefit payments. The new legislation now brings those changes into effect in Great Britain. Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, but the Department for Communities is expected to introduce equivalent legislation so that the same rates apply across the UK.
The confirmed weekly rates are:
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): £123.25 (up from £118.75)
- Statutory Adoption Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
- Statutory Maternity Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
- Statutory Neonatal Care Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
- Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
- Statutory Paternity Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
- Statutory Shared Parental Pay: £194.32 (up from £187.18)
These rates have increased by 3.8%, in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation for the year to September 2025.
For bookkeepers, it is worth noting that different statutory payments increase on different dates. Statutory Sick Pay rises from the first day of the tax year, Monday 6 April 2026. Child-related statutory payments increase from the week beginning with the first Sunday in April, which in 2026 falls on Sunday 5 April.
Eligibility rules also differ. For child-related statutory payments, employees must earn at or above the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for National Insurance, which rises to £129 per week in 2026/27 (up from £125).
From 6 April 2026, however, entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay will no longer depend on earnings at or above the LEL.
