How much maternity leave do you actually get?

A calculator that handles state PFL, employer benefits, and FMLA correctly for your specific situation.

How we got these numbers.

How this calculator works

This calculator handles the full picture of US maternity leave: federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for job protection, state Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI/SDI/DBL) for medical recovery, state Paid Family Leave (PFL/FLI) for bonding leave, and any voluntary employer benefits you have on top.

The wizard asks you eight short questions: which state you work in, whether you're the birthing parent, your tenure and hours worked, employer size, salary, pay frequency, and birth type. From those answers it produces a personalized week-by-week timeline showing each phase of your leave, how much each week pays, dated action items (when to file FMLA, when to file your state claim, when to add baby to insurance), and a "How we calculated this" section citing primary sources for every program that contributes to your timeline.

States with full state-specific data

Each of these has detailed program data and pre-rendered baseline calculations on its own page:

  • California — SDI + PFL + PDL + CFRA, the most generous combination in the US (90% wage replacement for low earners, $1,765/wk cap)
  • New York — PFL (12 weeks at 67% capped at $1,228.53) + DBL (the notorious $170/wk cap unchanged since 1989)
  • New Jersey — TDI + FLI at 85% replacement, capped at $1,119/wk; ~22 paid weeks combined
  • Texas — FMLA-only state (no state PFL or TDI); employer benefits only path to paid leave
  • Florida — FMLA-only with state preemption blocking local mandates

How the data stays current

State paid family leave parameters typically update annually around January 1, when new wage caps and contribution rates take effect. An automated weekly monitor watches each state government's program pages for changes; detected changes are flagged for human verification before any update propagates to the calculator. The result: when New Jersey raises its weekly cap or California adjusts its tiered replacement rates, you see the new numbers within days, not months. See the methodology page for the full data freshness pipeline.

What this calculator doesn't model

Federal income tax and FICA withholdings (your wage replacement is taxable; we show gross figures). Self-employed and 1099 contractors (most state programs are opt-in and require pre-pregnancy enrollment). Multi-state work arrangements with edge cases around remote employment across state lines. Employer top-up plans that supplement state PFL to 100% of pay vary too widely to model precisely.

Read the full methodology, learn more about Maternity Tally, or review our privacy policy.