Maternity Protection Calculator

The Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG) protects expectant and new mothers in the most sensitive phase around birth. It governs when you may no longer work and during which time you are financially secured. The only problem: the deadlines hang on the due date, shift with an earlier or later birth and differ depending on whether it is one child, multiples or a premature birth. The calculator takes this date acrobatics off your hands.

The protection period before birth begins six weeks before the calculated due date (§ 3 MuSchG). During this time you may keep working voluntarily if you expressly agree to it - but you do not have to. After birth, by contrast, an absolute employment ban applies: the post-birth protection period is eight weeks (§ 6 MuSchG), extending to twelve weeks for multiple and premature births as well as for the birth of a child with a disability.

The calculator computes both periods from your due date and shows the exact dates. If the child comes earlier than expected, the post-birth protection period extends by the days missing before the due date - so you retain the full protection of at least eight weeks. The tool factors in this compensation correctly too, so your planning holds.

Alongside the deadlines it is about money. During the protection periods you receive maternity pay: those with statutory insurance get up to 13 euros per calendar day from the health insurer, privately or family-insured women a one-off maternity benefit via the federal office. If you normally earn more, your employer tops up the difference to your previous net wage (employer supplement). The calculator determines both components and shows the total.

The employer supplement in particular is often underestimated. Because the health insurer's maternity pay is capped at 13 euros a day, the employer bears the lion's share for most employees so that you are financially as well off as before the protection period. The calculator makes transparent which part comes from the health insurer and which from the employer - an important figure when planning your household budget for parental leave.

The maternity protection calculator is guidance, not a decision. The exact amount of your maternity pay depends on your individual average net over recent months, which your health insurer and employer determine. For the seamless transition from maternity protection into parental leave and Elterngeld you will find the matching follow-up tools with us. Everything runs in your browser, your data stays with you.