How to use the parental leave income calculator
- Enter your regular pay before leave and choose whether it is quoted per week, every two weeks, per month or per year.
- List the parts of your leave. For each part, enter the weeks, the share of your regular weekly pay it provides and, if there is one, a weekly maximum in dollars.
- Optionally enter your monthly expenses to see how income during leave compares with them.
- Read your total income during the leave, how much you give up compared with regular pay, and the average per week and per month.
Formula
Regular weekly pay = yearly pay / 52
Weekly income for a part = regular weekly pay x share, limited to the weekly maximum if there is one
Income for a part = weekly income x weeks
Income given up = regular pay for all weeks - income during leave
A month of leave is 52 / 12 weeks, about 4.33 weeks. Every share and maximum is a number you enter.
Sixteen weeks of leave on $1,500 a week
Suppose 6 weeks are paid in full by your employer ($9,000), 6 weeks pay 60% of your regular pay through an insurance or state benefit, and 4 weeks are unpaid. Sixty percent of $1,500 is $900 a week, which is under a $1,000 weekly maximum, so those weeks bring in $5,400.
Income during the leave is $14,400. Regular pay for 16 weeks would be $24,000, so you give up $9,600. That averages $900 a week, or $3,900 a month. If your expenses are $4,000 a month, income falls $100 a month short of them.
Why the plan is built from parts
Leave pay often comes from more than one place: employer pay for some weeks, a state or insurance benefit for others, paid time off you choose to use, and unpaid weeks. Listing each part with its own share and maximum matches the way these programs actually work, and the totals add them up for you.
Programs differ in eligibility, length, waiting periods, pay rates and limits. The shares and maximums here are example numbers that you replace with the figures from your employer or the program, which you can usually find in its plan documents.
Planning for the gap
The income you give up is the amount to cover from savings, a lower budget or other sources. Compare it with your fixed costs, and think about expenses that start with a new child. The emergency fund calculator and the savings goal calculator can help you plan to cover it, and a budget planner shows what can be trimmed.
To turn pay between yearly, monthly and hourly amounts, use the hourly to salary calculator, and to see how much time off you have built up, the PTO accrual calculator.
Assumptions and limits
- Shares, weekly maximums and the number of weeks are your own numbers.
- Taxes, benefit premiums and job protection are not modeled.
- Pay stays the same during leave, with no raises or bonuses.
- Rules vary by employer, state and program. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I estimate my income during parental leave?
List each part of the leave with its weeks and the share of regular pay it provides, then add them up. Six weeks at full pay on $1,500 a week and six weeks at 60% add up to $14,400 with four unpaid weeks.
What is a weekly maximum?
Some benefits limit the weekly amount to a set dollar figure, however high your pay is. Enter it in the weekly maximum column, and the tool uses the smaller of the share and the maximum.
How do I find the shortfall during leave?
Compare the income given up with your expenses. The tool shows the income given up, and with your monthly expenses entered it also shows the monthly gap and the total to cover.
Can I use paid time off as part of my leave?
Yes. Add a part for it with the weeks you will use and 100% of your regular pay. Whether you can use it this way depends on your employer policy.