Benefits for looking after a child at home

Parental leave lasts for 320 working days, i.e. approximately 13 months. For that period, Kela pays parental allowance. Information about parental allowance can be found on the page Benefits for a family after a child is born. 

If you look after your child at home, you can take unpaid child care leave from your work until the child’s third birthday. Further information: Holidays and leaves.

If you decide to take child care leave, you can apply for child home care allowance from Kela. You can also apply for the benefit if you do not have a job.

Can I get child home care allowance?

You can get child home care allowance if the all following conditions are met:

• the child does not attend daycare (or other early childhood education)
• a parent or someone else (for example, a relative) takes care of the child
• 160 working days (about 6 months) have passed from the child’s birth
• no parental allowance or partial parental allowance is being paid for the child.

The child must also either:

• reside permanently in Finland or
• live in Finland temporarily and at least one of the parents is working in Finland and is covered by employment pension insurance.

How much is child home care allowance?

Child home care allowance includes:

• Care allowance, which is about EUR 380 per month for one child.
• Care allowance supplement that is paid if your family has a low income. The care allowance supplement is a maximum of approximately EUR 200.
• Municipal supplement, which is a benefit that some municipalities pay. The amount of the municipal supplement depends on the municipality.

You can receive child home care allowance at the same time for several children under school age if they do not attend daycare (or other early childhood education). The support ends when the youngest child in the family turns three.

Check out how much home care support you can get on the Kela website. Tax must be paid for home care allowance.

Child home care allowance abroad

In some situations, child home care allowance can also be paid if the child lives in another country.

You may receive child home care allowance from Finland if:

• you work in Finland but your child lives in another EU or EEA member state or
• you move abroad temporarily. Kela assesses whether the move is temporary or permanent.

Flexible care allowance and partial care allowance are intended for parents who work part-time for the purpose of caring for their children.

The parents can each receive flexible or partial care allowance at the same time if they both work part-time and take care of the child at different times.

Care allowance is paid for one child at a time and is taxable income.

Am I eligible for flexible care allowance?

You can receive flexible care allowance if:

• you are living with a child in Finland
• the child is under 3 years of age
• you work no more than 30 hours a week
• the child does not attend a daycare centre full-time (or other early childhood education).

The child may attend a daycare centre or other early childhood education part-time.

Am I eligible for partial care allowance?

You can receive partial care allowance, if:

• you are living with a child in Finland
• the child is in the 1st or 2nd grade of comprehensive school
• you work no more than 30 hours a week

You cannot receive flexible or partial care allowance if you are receiving daily allowances for parents and/or child home care allowance and you are looking after your children yourself.