Maternity benefit calculator 2026

How the maternity benefit is calculated

The maternity benefit (maternitātes pabalsts) is 80% of the recipient's average insurance contribution wage (Section 10 of the law "Par maternitātes un slimības apdrošināšanu"). It is paid by VSAA for calendar days.

The calculation has three steps (Cabinet Regulation No. 753, paragraphs 12 and 23):

1. The period is 12 calendar months ending two months before the month in which the pregnancy leave starts. For example, if the leave starts on 06.05.2026, the period is 01.03.2025 – 28.02.2026.
2. The average insurance contribution wage per calendar day: Vd = (A1 + A2 + … + A12) : D, where A is the insurance contribution wage of each month and D is the number of calendar days in the period without the days not included.
3. The benefit: Pm = Vd × 0.8 × number of days, with the benefit per day rounded to cents (as in the VSAA examples).

The benefit is paid in two parts: the first part for the pregnancy leave, the second part for the maternity leave after the child is born.

Who is entitled to the maternity benefit

The benefit is granted to a woman who is an employee or self-employed, loses income because of the pregnancy and maternity leave and has been issued a sick-leave certificate B by a doctor.

Mandatory state social insurance contributions (VSAOI) must have been made, or must have been due, for her:

• for at least 3 months in the last 6 months before the month in which the pregnancy leave starts, or
• for at least 6 months in the last 24 months.

The right to the benefit is kept if the employee or self-employed status was lost not earlier than 60 days before the pregnancy or maternity leave, and if the woman was dismissed because the employer was liquidated and the right to the pregnancy leave arose not later than 210 days after the dismissal.

In some cases (for example, if the mother cannot take care of the child because of an illness) the benefit can be granted to the father or another person who actually takes care of the child at home.

For how many days the maternity benefit is paid

The additional 14 days before birth are granted if medical care related to the pregnancy started by the 12th week of pregnancy and continued during the whole pregnancy. The additional 14 days after birth are granted because of complications of pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period, and if two or more children are born (Section 5 of the law).

If the child is born before the pregnancy leave, the leave is paid in the same way.

Average insurance contribution wage

The insurance contribution wage is the income from which VSAOI were made or should have been made. For an employee it is usually the gross salary. Information about your insurance contributions is available from VSAA, also on the Latvija.gov.lv portal.

Days not included. The days excluded from the period are the days covered by a sick-leave certificate B, pregnancy and maternity leave, paternity leave, child care leave, unpaid leave to take care of a child, and the days for which downtime benefit, downtime assistance benefit or continued parental benefit was received. The days of a sick-leave certificate A are not excluded, because the employer pays sick pay for them.

Months without contributions. If in a part of the period the woman was not registered as a VSAOI payer or was on unpaid leave (except unpaid leave to take care of a child), 70% of the national monthly average insurance contribution wage is taken for that part. For a pregnancy leave starting in 2026, the national average is €1,487.77, so €1041.44 is taken for a month (Regulation No. 753, paragraph 9). If there were no contributions in the whole period, Vd = 1,487.77 × 0.7 × 12 : number of days in the period (paragraph 13.1).

If there was no income in the whole period because of incapacity for work, pregnancy and maternity leave or child care leave, the average wage is determined for the 12 months before these periods started (paragraph 8). The calculator does not calculate this case, VSAA does.

Maximum average wage. The average insurance contribution wage per calendar day cannot exceed 1/365 of the annual maximum VSAOI object. In 2026 the maximum is €105,300, so Vd is not more than €288.4932, and the benefit is not more than €230.79 per day.

The average wage does not include severance pay, compensation for unused vacation, and allowances, bonuses and other remuneration paid by the employer during temporary incapacity for work, pregnancy and maternity leave or child care leave (Regulation No. 753, paragraphs 12 and 12.1).

Example of the maternity benefit calculation

The pregnancy leave starts on 06.05.2026, the woman registered by the 12th week of pregnancy (70 days before birth), the birth has no complications (56 days after birth). The gross salary is €1600 per month, but in November 2025 she had a sick-leave certificate B for 10 days, and the salary for that month was €1100.

• Period: 01.03.2025 – 28.02.2026, 365 days.
• Sum of contribution wages: 11 × €1600 + €1100 = €18,700.
• Number of days: 365 − 10 = 355.
• Vd = 18,700 : 355 = €52.6761.
• Benefit per day: 52.6761 × 0.8 = €42.14.
• First part: 42.14 × 70 = €2949.80.
• Second part: 42.14 × 56 = €2359.84.
• Total: €5309.64.

If the woman had not worked (had not been insured) from March to June 2025 and the salary in the other 8 months had been €1200, then Vd = (8 × 1200 + 4 × 1041.44) : 365 = €37.7144, and the benefit for 56 + 56 days would be 2 × 56 × €30.17 = €3379.04.

Taxes, application and payment

The maternity benefit is not subject to personal income tax: benefits paid from the budget are non-taxable income, except temporary incapacity (sickness) benefits (Section 9, Paragraph one, Clause 7 of the law "Par iedzīvotāju ienākuma nodokli"). So no tax is withheld from the calculated amount.

• The benefit must be requested within 6 months from the first day of the pregnancy leave: on the Latvija.gov.lv portal, at a VSAA customer service centre or by post.
• The first part is paid for the pregnancy leave, the second part after the child is born.
• The benefit cannot be received for the time when income is earned (including royalties). The exception is a self-employed woman whose income does not reach the minimum wage and who makes contributions only for pension insurance.
• If the maternity benefit is smaller than the parental benefit, the parental benefit can be chosen by refusing the maternity benefit (Regulation No. 753, paragraph 27).

What the calculator does not calculate

• Self-employed women: their period ends one quarter before the quarter in which the pregnancy leave starts, and only the contributions actually made are taken into account (Section 32 of the law).
• Women who are an employee and self-employed at the same time (Regulation No. 753, paragraph 5).
• Cases where there was no income in the whole period for justified reasons (paragraph 8), and contributions to an institution of the European Union.
• Months in which the woman was insured only for a part of the month: the calculator takes the actual contribution wage of that month; in such cases VSAA calculates the exact amount.

The calculator works for pregnancy leaves starting in 2026. The exact amount of the benefit is set by VSAA in its decision.