Sure Start Maternity Grant - Can I get a Sure Start Maternity Grant?

You can apply for a Sure Start Maternity Grant if you have no other children under 16 and you or your partner get:

• Income Support or
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance or
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or
• Universal Credit or
• The guarantee part of Pension Credit, or
• Child tax credit, or
• Working tax credit that includes a disability or severe disability element.

You may also qualify if you're getting a Support for Mortgage Interest Loan.

If your income drops because you are taking time off to have a baby, use our Benefits Calculator to check if this change means you could claim any of these benefits.

If you don't qualify for one of these benefits because you're under 16 or in education, a family member could claim a Sure Start Maternity Grant for you if they get a qualifying benefit.

If you already have children under 16

You may still be able to claim if any of the following apply:

• you're expecting a multiple birth
• the child you're caring for is someone else's (but not your partner's) and the child was over 12 months old when you started caring for them.
• you have refugee status, humanitarian protection or you've come to the UK from Afghanistan or Ukraine (see below for more details).
• you're claiming for a family member under 16, or 16 to 19 who is expecting a baby and in certain types of education or training.

If you're not giving birth

You may also be able to claim if you're adopting or becoming a surrogate parent. The baby must be less than 1 year old on the date you claim and you must be receiving one of the benefits above.