SSS maternity benefit: who qualifies, how much and how to claim

SSS pays a daily cash allowance to a member who cannot work because of childbirth, miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy. It covers 105 days for a live birth, normal or caesarean, 120 days for a solo parent, and 60 days for a miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy. You need at least 3 monthly contributions in the 12 months before the semester of childbirth. It is paid for every pregnancy, whatever your civil status (RA 11210 Secs. 3 and 5).

Who qualifies

From the SSS maternity benefit page:

• You paid at least 3 monthly contributions in the 12 months before the semester of contingency, the two quarters ending with the quarter you give birth. SSS counts only contributions paid before that semester.
• You notified SSS of the pregnancy before the birth: through your employer if you are employed, or directly if you are self-employed, voluntary, a non-working spouse or an OFW. The 2026 SSS Citizen’s Charter says the notification must be filed before the delivery, miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy.

A worked check: a baby due in May falls in the April to June quarter, so the semester is January to June. SSS looks at the 12 months from January to December of the year before. Three paid months in that window meet the test.

Older rules paid maternity benefit for only the first four deliveries. RA 11210 removed that limit. SSS now pays it for every pregnancy, however many you have had.

How much: working it out

The daily benefit is 100% of your average daily salary credit (ADSC):

1. Leave out the semester of childbirth.
2. Count back 12 months from the month before that semester.
3. Add your 6 highest monthly salary credits in those 12 months. Each counts only up to PHP 20,000.
4. Divide by 180. That is your daily maternity allowance.
5. Multiply by 105, 120 or 60 days.

SSS’s own sample, for a member whose six highest salary credits are PHP 16,000:

Six highest salary credits (16,000 x 6)

PHP 96,000

Average daily salary credit (96,000 / 180)

PHP 533.33

Benefit for a live birth (x 105 days)

PHP 56,000.00

At the salary credit cap. SSS does not publish a maximum benefit in pesos. Each salary credit counts only up to PHP 20,000 (SSS maternity benefit page; SSS Circulars 2024-009 and 2024-010). If all six of your highest credits in the 12-month window are PHP 20,000 or more, the same steps give:

Six highest salary credits (20,000 x 6)

PHP 120,000

Average daily salary credit (120,000 / 180)

about PHP 666.67

Live birth (x 105 days)

PHP 70,000

Solo parent (x 120 days)

PHP 80,000

This is our calculation from SSS’s rules, not a figure SSS publishes. With lower salary credits, your benefit is lower.

Employed members also get a salary differential from the employer, so they receive full pay for the leave, except in some small or distressed businesses. Self-employed, voluntary, non-working spouse and OFW members receive the SSS benefit only.

You can give up to 7 days of the leave to the child’s father, or to an alternate caregiver if he has died, is absent or cannot care for the child. This does not apply after a miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy (RA 11210 Sec. 6).

Voluntary, OFW and unemployed members

If you are self-employed, voluntary, a non-working spouse or a land-based OFW, you deal with SSS directly:

• Notify SSS of your pregnancy through your My.SSS account, the SSS Mobile App or an SSS self-service terminal.
• After the birth, file the maternity benefit application in My.SSS.
• SSS pays the benefit straight to your disbursement account.

If you lost your job or left it, SSS pays you directly too. If the birth falls during your employment or within 6 months of leaving, add a certificate of separation from your former employer showing the date you left and that it paid you no advance.

If you are employed, your employer advances the full benefit within 30 days of your maternity leave application and SSS reimburses the employer.

Contributions must be in place before the semester of childbirth. Paying several months at once after you find out you are pregnant may be too late, so check your dates against the window above.

How to file online

Since 1 September 2021, maternity benefit applications are filed online through My.SSS. You need:

• A My.SSS account and an approved disbursement account in the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM), where SSS sends the money. You can enrol up to three.
• The child’s certificate of live birth, registered with the local civil registrar with its receipt if you file within 6 months of the birth, or issued by the PSA if later. A Report of Birth from a Philippine embassy or consulate, or the foreign equivalent with an English translation, also works.
• A solo parent ID, or the solo parent certification, if you claim 120 days.

Medical papers issued abroad need an English translation where needed, but SSS no longer asks for embassy authentication or an apostille. You can file up to 10 years after the birth. The 2026 SSS Citizen’s Charter gives 7 working days to process an individual member’s application.

PhilHealth and other help

SSS pays the cash allowance. Hospital costs for the birth are a PhilHealth matter. See PhilHealth maternity benefits. You also cannot get the SSS sickness benefit for the same days you receive maternity benefit. More on SSS for working Filipinos abroad is in the SSS guide for OFWs. Voluntary contributions explains how to keep paying between jobs.