California Paid Family Leave in 2026: your weekly benefit
PFL pays up to eight weeks to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill relative, between $50 and $1,765 a week in 2026. Enter your pay and the weeks you need.
California Paid Family Leave (PFL), bonding with a new child
$1,127
a week · $9,016 for 8 weeks
| Weekly benefit | $1,127 |
| Average weekly wage used | $1,346 |
| Weeks paid (up to 8 weeks for this reason) | 8 weeks |
| Total for this leave | $9,016 |
| Federal income tax on it, about | $1,257 |
| Your take-home pay now, a week | $1,099 |
| Share of take-home pay replaced | 103 % before tax |
California: same table as SDI: 90% or 70% of high-quarter wages ÷ 13, between $50 and $1,765 a week, up to 8 weeks in 12 months.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the estimates are built · state laws and agency pages read October 20, 2026
California Paid Family Leave replaces 90% of the weekly wage of lower earners and 70% for everyone else, using the quarter of your base period in which you earned the most, divided by thirteen. In 2026 the 90% rate applies when that quarter is $16,279.90 or less; between that and $20,931.30 the benefit is a flat $1,127; above, it is 70% up to the maximum of $1,765 a week, reached with a best quarter of about $32,779. Someone who earned $10,000 in the best quarter gets $692 a week, $18,000 brings $1,127, and $26,000 brings $1,400. Benefits run for up to eight weeks in a twelve-month period, with no waiting week, so eight weeks at $1,127 pay $9,016. The program is funded by the State Disability Insurance deduction of 1.3 % on all wages, and PFL is federal taxable income.
Which rate you get
The Employment Development Department publishes PFL as a table of bands rather than as tiers. Your whole weekly wage, the best quarter divided by thirteen, falls in one band and is replaced at that band's rate. Up to a best quarter of $16,279.90, the rate is 90%. The next band pays a flat $1,127, which is what 70% of the band's upper end produces, so nobody loses money by crossing the line. Above $20,931.30 in the best quarter, the rate is 70% until the cap of $1,765. The same table applies to State Disability Insurance (EDD benefit table).
These bands apply to claims since January 1, 2025, so guides written before then quote lower rates. The 2026 cap of $1,765 comes from the EDD fund forecast of May 2026.
Your California PFL check
California Paid Family Leave (PFL), bonding with a new child
$1,127
| Weekly benefit | $1,127 |
| Average weekly wage used | $1,346 |
| Weeks paid (up to 8 weeks for this reason) | 8 weeks |
| Total for this leave | $9,016 |
Eight weeks, used how you need them
PFL pays up to eight weeks in any twelve-month period, for bonding with a child in the first year after birth, adoption or foster placement, for caring for a seriously ill family member, or for a family member's military deployment. The weeks can be taken in one block or by days. There is no unpaid waiting week for PFL (EDD), unlike disability, which starts after seven days.
For a birth, the usual sequence is disability first, typically up to four weeks before the due date and six or eight weeks after, then PFL for bonding. The maternity leave page adds the two for your pay, and the California SDI page gives the disability side.
PFL does not protect your job
PFL pays a benefit; it does not hold your position. Job protection comes from the California Family Rights Act or the federal FMLA, depending on your employer and your tenure. Ask your employer which law covers your leave before you file. The FMLA and paid leave page explains the difference.
Against your take-home pay
At $70,000 a year, a single filer takes home about $1,099 a week after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the SDI deduction, before California income tax. A PFL check of $1,127 replaces 103 % of it before federal tax. Under Revenue Ruling 2025-4, state family leave benefits are included in federal gross income.
California Paid Family Leave (PFL): the 2026 figures
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Benefit rule | same table as SDI: 90% or 70% of high-quarter wages ÷ 13, between $50 and $1,765 a week, up to 8 weeks in 12 months |
| Weekly benefit, 2026 | $50 to $1,765 |
| Weeks: Bonding with a new child | 8 |
| Weeks: Caring for a relative | 8 |
| Unpaid waiting period: bonding with a new child | none |
| Unpaid waiting period: caring for a relative | none |
| Employee premium, 2026 | included in the SDI rate |
| Official calculator | edd.ca.gov |