EDD miscalculated my pregnancy disability benefits using old income - need urgent help!

This happens because EDD uses your base period wages to calculate benefit amounts. The base period is the 12-month period approximately 5-18 months before your claim start date. So if you started your claim in March 2025, they're looking at wages from October 2023-September 2024. Unfortunately, this means your current higher wages aren't being counted yet. You might want to consider asking your doctor if you can delay starting your PDL claim by a quarter if medically possible, so more of your higher wages would fall into the base period.

have u tried calling them??? maybe its just an error and they didnt get ur new wage info

The previous comment about the base period is correct. EDD uses a specific calculation period that's set by law, not your current wages. I went through this exact situation last year with my pregnancy. Unfortunately, if you just started your higher-paying job in January 2025, those wages won't be part of your claim calculation. Your options are limited, but you might want to: 1. Check if your employer offers any supplemental short-term disability insurance that could bridge the gap 2. See if you qualify for any other assistance programs during this time 3. Verify that ALL quarters of your base period were properly reported to EDD (sometimes employers make reporting errors

This EXACT thing happened to me!!! I was making like $1900/week and they gave me $380/week for my PDL. I called and called and called and when I finally got through after 3 days of trying they said something about "base period" and basically tough luck. The system is rigged against women who are advancing in their careers and then have babies. Its complete BS.

I had a similar issue trying to reach EDD about my benefit calculation. I spent 4 days calling nonstop and getting nowhere. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected to an actual EDD representative in about 20 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/1X-mEsLtbmQ?si=1hcSq3KFtCr4oAmd The rep confirmed what others have said about the base period wages, but at least I got a clear explanation and knew I wasn't missing anything. In my case they had missed some quarters from one employer that I was able to get corrected, which bumped up my benefit amount a bit.

Look into Paid Family Leave too!! After ur PDL ends u can get PFL benefits for bonding BUT the annoying thing is its calculated the same way using the same quarters. The whole system really punishes ppl who recently got better jobs then had a baby.

Not to make things worse, but make sure you understand how your health insurance works during leave too. I got caught with unexpected premium payments while on PDL that I didn't budget for since my employer normally covered most of it. With your reduced income this could be another hit.

One more thing - while you can't change how your weekly benefit amount is calculated, you should make sure that your claim start date is correct. Sometimes there's confusion between when your doctor certified disability and when EDD actually starts paying benefits. Also, don't forget there's a 7-day waiting period before benefits start. Make sure that's being applied correctly and you're not losing additional days you should be paid for.

After you speak with a representative, ask them to verify that all your wages in the base period were properly reported. Sometimes there are errors in reporting that can be corrected with proper documentation. Bring copies of your W-2s or pay stubs from the base period they're using. While you can't change which quarters they use, you can ensure all wages within those quarters are accurately counted.