Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received maternity allowance in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

In response to these questions:

(a) The number of women who commenced their Maternity Allowance claim in 2014-15 was 82,500.

(b) The number of women who commenced their Maternity Allowance claim in 2015-16 was 86,300.

(c) The total number of commencements for 2016-17 is not yet available.

Data are published quarterly on the number of commencements to Maternity Allowance on a rolling basis up to November 2016 at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics

These quarterly data do not sum to the annual totals above as the data is subject to substantial retrospection from late notifications to the computer system, as noted in the publication. The annual estimates above are the best estimate for the financial years requested.

(1) Data is based on 5% sample data and retrospection may continue to affect the actual numbers.
(2) These figures exclude a small proportion of clerical cases.

(3) Data are rounded to the nearest 100.