Maternity leave in the United States is a patchwork of federal job protection, state disability benefits, and whatever paid time off your employer chooses to offer. The result is that two people taking the same 12-week leave can bring home wildly different paychecks — one may receive nearly their full salary, while the other loses thousands of dollars. This calculator estimates how much of your leave-week wages are actually replaced by short-term disability (STD) and employer paid leave, and how much you can expect to lose out of pocket.
Enter your annual salary, the length of your leave window, your STD benefit terms, and any employer paid parental leave. The result card shows your weekly wage, the STD benefit you will actually receive (after the weekly cap), total employer paid leave, and the estimated lost wages over the whole window.
What this calculator does — and does not: this tool estimates wage replacement during your leave — how much of your paycheck short-term disability (STD) and employer paid leave actually cover, and what you lose out of pocket. It does not accrue or total up your paid time off (PTO) balance, and it is not an FMLA-eligibility checker. If you are trying to figure out how many PTO hours you have banked, track that separately from your HR balance; this page answers a different question: how much money will I actually bring home on leave.
How to Use
- Enter your Annual Salary — your gross base pay before taxes, 401(k), or insurance deductions. If you are paid hourly, multiply your hourly rate by 2,080 (40 hours × 52 weeks) to get an annual figure.
- Set your Unpaid Leave Window — the total number of weeks you intend to be off. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave, but many people take 16 or 20 weeks by combining FMLA with accrued PTO.
- Enter your STD Weeks — how many weeks your short-term disability plan covers for childbirth. A typical vaginal delivery is 6 weeks; a cesarean section is often 8 weeks.
- Set your STD Replacement Rate — the percentage of weekly wage STD pays. Most plans replace 50% to 70% of your average weekly wage.
- Enter your STD Weekly Benefit Cap — the maximum weekly amount your state or plan will pay. State plans vary widely (California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington have their own temporary disability programs), and private STD plans often cap benefits at $500–$1,500 per week. Set this to 0 if there is no cap.
- Enter your Employer Paid Leave Weeks — the number of weeks your company pays at 100% of your salary as paid parental leave. If your employer does not offer paid leave, set this to 0.
The calculator then derives your weekly wage, the capped STD benefit, total paid leave, and the gap between what you would have earned and what you actually receive during the leave window.
How the Math Works
The model is straightforward, with one coordination-of-benefits rule: STD and employer paid leave do not stack on the same week. You receive the higher of the two benefits for any given week, not both.
weeklyWage = annualSalary ÷ 52
Your weekly wage is your annual salary divided by 52. If you earn $80,000 per year, your weekly wage is about $1,538.
stdWeeklyBenefit = min(weeklyWage × stdReplacementRate, stdWeeklyCap)
STD replaces a percentage of your weekly wage, but almost always up to a weekly maximum. For someone earning $80,000, 60% of weekly wage is $923, but if the plan caps benefits at $308 per week, the actual STD check is $308 per week, not $923.
effectiveStdWeeks = max(0, stdWeeks − paidLeaveWeeks)
Because employer paid leave pays 100% of wage (higher than STD's 50–70% replacement), it offsets STD on the weeks where they overlap. STD only pays out on weeks not already covered by employer paid leave.
stdTotalBenefit = effectiveStdWeeks × stdWeeklyBenefit paidTotalBenefit = paidLeaveWeeks × weeklyWage
lostWages = (unpaidWeeks × weeklyWage) − stdTotalBenefit − paidTotalBenefit
Over a 12-week FMLA window for the $80,000 earner: 8 weeks are employer-paid, the 6 STD weeks fall entirely inside those 8 (so STD contributes $0), leaving 4 unpaid weeks. Estimated lost wages are 4 × $1,538 ≈ $6,154.
Short-Term Disability Maternity Calculator: Why STD Has a Weekly Cap
State temporary disability programs and private STD insurance are designed to replace a portion of income, not full salary. The weekly cap exists because insurers price benefits around a percentage of the state's average weekly wage, not your individual income. A software engineer earning $200,000 per year and a teacher earning $60,000 may receive the same STD weekly check if both are capped near the state maximum. This is why high earners often see the largest lost-wages gap: their 60% replacement rate is well above the cap, so STD delivers only the fixed weekly amount regardless of how high their salary climbs.
Examples
Example 1 — Typical $80,000 salaried employee. Annual salary $80,000, 12-week FMLA window, 6 weeks STD at 60% with a $308 weekly cap, and 8 weeks of employer paid leave at 100%. Weekly wage is $1,538. Because the 6 STD weeks fall entirely inside the 8 employer-paid weeks, STD is offset and contributes $0. Employer paid leave covers 8 × $1,538 = $12,308. The remaining 4 weeks are unpaid, so estimated lost wages are 4 × $1,538 = $6,154. This is the number most new parents should budget for.
Example 2 — High earner capped by STD. Annual salary $250,000, 12-week leave, 6 weeks STD at 60% with the same $308 weekly cap, and 6 weeks employer paid leave. Weekly wage is $4,808. The 6 STD weeks exactly coincide with the 6 employer-paid weeks, so STD is again offset to $0. Employer paid leave is 6 × $4,808 = $28,846. The remaining 6 weeks are unpaid, losing roughly $28,846 — high earners lose the most because the weekly STD cap is far below their actual wage.
Example 3 — State program with no employer paid leave. Annual salary $65,000, 12-week leave, 6 weeks STD at 60% in a state program with a $1,050 weekly cap, and no employer paid leave. Weekly wage is $1,250. 60% replacement is $750, below the cap, so STD pays out on all 6 weeks: 6 × $750 = $4,500. With zero employer paid leave, lost wages are 12 × $1,250 − $4,500 = $10,500. This illustrates why state disability programs are a mixed blessing: they replace a meaningful share of wages, but the remaining gap is steep without employer support.
Example 4 — C-section, 8 weeks STD, 8 weeks employer paid leave. Annual salary $95,000, 16-week leave window, 8 weeks STD at 60% with a $500 weekly cap, and 8 weeks employer paid leave. Weekly wage is $1,827. The 8 STD weeks exactly match the 8 employer-paid weeks, so STD is offset to $0. Employer paid leave covers 8 × $1,827 = $14,615. The remaining 8 weeks are unpaid, losing roughly $14,615. If your employer offered only 4 weeks of paid leave instead, 4 of the 8 STD weeks would pay out at the $500 cap, cutting the gap by about $2,000.
FAQ
How is maternity leave pay calculated?
Maternity leave pay is calculated by taking your weekly wage (annual salary ÷ 52), multiplying by the number of weeks covered by each benefit source, and subtracting those benefits from the total wages you would have earned during your leave window. Short-term disability (STD) typically replaces 50–70% of weekly wage up to a state or plan cap, while employer paid parental leave replaces 100% for a fixed number of weeks.
How much money do I lose on maternity leave?
In the United States, a typical 12-week maternity leave for an $80,000 earner results in roughly $6,000 in lost wages if the employer offers 8 weeks of paid leave (the 6 STD weeks are offset by the employer pay). Without employer paid leave, lost wages can exceed $12,000 over 12 weeks. The exact number depends on your state's STD cap, your employer's paid leave policy, and your salary.
Is maternity leave paid in the US?
There is no federal paid maternity leave in the United States. FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid job protection for eligible workers at covered employers. Five states (California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington) plus the District of Columbia run paid temporary disability or paid family leave programs that replace a portion of wages. Many large employers also offer a separate paid parental leave benefit, often 6–12 weeks at 100% of salary.
How does short-term disability work for maternity?
Short-term disability covers the medical recovery period after childbirth, typically 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for a cesarean section. STD pays a percentage of your weekly wage (usually 50–70%) up to a weekly cap. You must apply through your state program or employer's group STD policy, and benefits usually begin after a short waiting period.
Do STD and employer paid leave stack?
Usually they do not stack. Most employer policies require that paid parental leave run concurrently with STD, meaning you receive the higher of the two benefits per week, not both. Some employers will "topping up" STD to 100% of your wage during the STD weeks, then pay full wage for the remaining parental leave weeks. Check your employee handbook or HR contact to confirm how your specific plan coordinates benefits.
How long is maternity leave in the US?
FMLA guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for eligible employees at companies with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. Many new parents take 12–20 weeks total by combining FMLA, accrued PTO, and unpaid personal leave. Some employers offer 16–26 weeks of paid parental leave as a company policy. There is no federal mandate for paid leave.
Disclaimer
This maternity leave calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, tax, or HR advice. Estimates are based on the inputs you enter and standard short-term disability replacement models; actual benefits vary by state, employer plan, salary level, plan year, and eligibility rules. State temporary disability programs, employer paid leave policies, and FMLA eligibility requirements change frequently. Always confirm your specific benefit terms with your HR department, your state's paid leave agency, or a licensed employment attorney before making financial decisions about your leave.