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Kela benefits in Finland – who is covered, child benefit, parental leave, unemployment and pensions

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Kela (Social Insurance Institution) pays child benefit, parental allowance, unemployment security and the minimum pensions – but only once it has decided you are covered. Here is how residence-based and work-based cover differ, what the 2026 amounts are, and what the 1 May 2026 unemployment reform means for newcomers.

Woman in a red jacket pushing a pram along a snowy park path under bare trees
Photo: psychoshadow/Adobe Stock

On 1 May 2026 Kela's basic unemployment allowance and labour market subsidy gave way to a single yleistuki (general social security benefit) of €37.21 a day. Stricter job-search sanctions have applied since 1 March 2026, social assistance was cut the same day, and most benefits other than pensions are frozen until 2027. For a family arriving now, the first question is Kela's: are you covered at all?

Who is covered by Kela in Finland?

Kela (Social Insurance Institution) cover has two bases, and citizenship is irrelevant to both. Residence-based cover applies if Kela judges your move permanent, case by case. Work-based cover applies from the first day of a job paying at least €800.02 a month, whatever the hours, though with fewer benefits than residents. If you need a residence permit you must hold it first; since 1 April 2026 a refused permit ends residence-based benefits immediately.

Benefits can start from the day of the move. Before applying you need a personal identity code from DVV (Digital and Population Data Services Agency) and a bank account – Kela pays nothing in cash. Apply in OmaKela (Finnish and Swedish only) or post your forms with form Y 77e to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

Posted workers with an A1 from the EU/EEA, Switzerland or the UK stay covered at home and, as a rule, get nothing from Kela. Finland's social security agreements with the USA, Canada, Australia and others mainly cover pensions; those with Japan, China, India and South Korea do not cover Kela benefits at all.

Residence-based coverWork-based cover
WhoKela considers your move permanentYou work in Finland for at least €800.02 a month
From whenThe day of the moveThe start of employment
WhatThe full range, including child benefit and housing allowanceCertain benefits, e.g. sickness allowance and the Kela card
How it endsWork in another country, or more than six months abroadPay below the threshold, or a permit not extended

Source: Kela and InfoFinland, read 24 September 2026.

Child benefit and parental allowance in 2026

Lapsilisä (child benefit) is national, tax-free and paid for every child under 17 living permanently in Finland. It is not automatic – you apply. If you work here you can get it even for a child living in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, under EU coordination rules.

ChildPer month in 2026 (unchanged – index freeze)
First child€94.88
Second child€104.84
Third child€133.79
Fourth child€173.24
Fifth and each further child€192.69
Supplement for each child under 3€26
Single-parent supplement, per child€73.30

Source: Kela, read 24 September 2026.

Parental leave was rebuilt on 1 August 2022. Each child brings 320 working days of parental allowance, 160 per parent, of which up to 63 can be handed to the other parent; a single parent gets all 320. Days can be used flexibly until the child turns two, and both parents can be on leave together for up to 18 working days. Pregnancy allowance adds 40 working days, with leave starting 14–30 working days before the due date.

The allowance is taxable: a minimum of €31.99 a working day on income up to €13,712, and €63.99 on €30,000 in Kela's example. Newcomers qualify by living here permanently or working here; non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens also need a permit. Arrive with a child under one and the parents share up to 320 days minus days paid abroad; with a child aged one to two, 160 days in total.

Afterwards, a child under three not in municipal daycare qualifies for kotihoidon tuki (child home care allowance): €377.68 a month for one child under three, €113.07 for each further child under three and €72.66 for each further child under school age. It is taxable; some municipalities add their own supplement – a municipal decision.

Unemployment security after the 1 May 2026 reform

Register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment services of your kotikunta (municipality of residence) through Job Market Finland on your first day of unemployment; benefit runs from the registration date. Since 1 January 2025 these services belong to the municipalities, in 45 employment areas. Non-EU citizens register in person.

Two systems apply. Members of an unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa) who meet the work requirement claim earnings-related allowance (ansiopäiväraha) from the fund. Everyone else claims yleistuki: €37.21 a day, five days a week, taxable, no maximum duration, for jobseekers aged 18–64 living permanently in Finland. It is means-tested – half of part-time earnings is deducted, non-wage income above €311 a month reduces it; a partner's income and your assets do not count. A waiting period of seven working days applies, and jobseekers without a vocational or higher-education qualification face a 21-week qualifying period.

DateWhat changed
1 January 2024Waiting period extended from five to seven days
1 April 2024The €300 exempt amount and child increases abolished
2 September 2024Work requirement 12 months within 28, previously about six; a month with pay of at least €930 counts in full; earnings-related allowance cut by 20 % after 40 days and 25 % after 170
1 January 2025Employment services moved from TE Offices to the municipalities, 45 employment areas
1 March 2026First job-search infraction: 7-day karenssi (mandatory waiting period); second: six-week obligation to work
1 May 2026General social security benefit of €37.21 a day replaces basic unemployment allowance and labour market subsidy

Source: Kela and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, read 24 September 2026.

Work in another EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the UK can count if you were a fund member. Jobseekers from the EU/EEA or Switzerland may export their home benefit, but only a job in Finland or permanent residence creates a right to Kela benefits. A September 2026 Government proposal for a combined unemployment insurance scheme would change yleistuki – a proposal only.

Housing allowance and social assistance

General housing allowance is national and covers at most 70 per cent of acceptable housing costs minus a basic deductible, down from 80 per cent since 1 April 2024. Since 1 January 2025 it excludes owner-occupied homes, counts assets and has moved students to the student housing supplement. Toimeentulotuki (social assistance) is the last resort and requires permanent residence; from 1 March 2026 the basic amount for a person living alone is €578.43 a month.

Pensions: what a foreigner accrues in Finland

Working here, you accrue earnings-related pension exactly like a Finn: your employer insures you with a pension provider and deducts your 7.30 per cent contribution, and pension accrues at 1.5 per cent of gross annual earnings between the ages of 17 and 69. Contributions cannot be refunded or moved abroad, but the pension is paid to any country once you reach retirement age – 65 if born in 1962–1964, later cohorts linked to life expectancy. With an A1 you accrue nothing here.

Kela's kansaneläke (national pension) and takuueläke (guarantee pension) are the floor. The full national pension is €787.07 a month living alone, €702.69 with a partner, payable only if earnings-related pensions are at most €1,455.88 a month; the guarantee pension lifts all pensions to €990.90 if they total at most €982.90. Both need three years' residence after age 16, and the national pension shrinks if you lived here less than 80 per cent of the time between 16 and retirement. The guarantee pension is not paid to people living abroad permanently.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Get your personal identity code and open a bank accountBefore you contact Kela
2Notify Kela of the move in OmaKela or with form Y 77e, listing children under 18In your first weeks
3Apply for child benefit – it is not paid automaticallyFrom the month after birth or arrival
4Expecting? Apply for pregnancy and parental allowance14–30 working days before the due date
5Consider joining an unemployment fund – yleistuki is €37.21 a dayWhen you start work
6Lose your job: register on Job Market FinlandOn the first day of unemployment
7Questions: Kela +358 20 634 2550 (families, unemployment, housing) or 020 692 202 (pensions)Weekdays

Source: Kela and Job Market Finland, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.