If you have acknowledged parenthood of the child at the maternity and child health clinic before the child was born or at the child welfare officer’s office after the child was born, you can be granted parental allowance for a maximum of 4 months from the birth of the child even if parenthood has not yet been confirmed by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.
For what period can you get parental allowance?
Parental allowance for one child is paid for a total of 320 working days. Working days are Monday to Saturday, with the exception of holidays that fall on these days.
If a child has two parents, each parent can get parental allowance for 160 working days. You can give up and turn over a maximum of 63 working days of your quota of 160 parental allowance days to another person who is caring for the child.
You can get parental allowance flexibly during times you choose until the child is two years old or until two years have passed from the day your adopted child was placed in your care. You can get parental allowance even for short periods or for individual days.
Ella and Ari share their parental allowance days equally. Ella first takes 130 working days of parental leave and then returns to work while Ari stays home taking care of their baby. When Ari’s parental leave ends, Ella, as she has agreed with her employer, takes her remaining 30 days of parental leave in the form of individual days weekly before the child turns two. She does a four-day work week and stays home on parental leave one day a week to take care of the child. The remaining four days a week the child attends municipal early childhood education.
Partial parental allowance
If you work part-time you can apply for partial parental allowance. When you take one day of partial parental leave, the number of your parental allowance days will decrease by half a day.
If you take care of a child part of the day and work part-time at the same time, you can apply for partial parental allowance. Your daily working time must be no more than 5 hours per day.
If you work for longer than that, you are not entitled to parental allowance. The maximum of five hours daily working time applies to you if
you are an employee
you are self-employed
you have more than one part-time job either as an employee or as self-employed.
If you are employed and you want to receive partial parental allowance, you must have concluded an agreement on part-time work with your employer.
When you take one day of partial parental leave, the number of your parental allowance days will decrease by half a day. For example, if you are on partial parental allowance for 10 working days, your days of parental allowance will decrease by 5 days.
Parents can also get partial parental allowance for the same period of time. If both parents take partial parental leave, this does not count against the 18 days you can take at the same time. The days that the parents take at the same time will, however, affect the days you take together with the other parent if one parent takes a day of leave with full parental allowance and the other parent takes a day of leave with partial parental allowance.
The amount of partial parental allowance is half the amount of full parental allowance.
Example of partial parental allowance
Venla has a baby with her partner Susanna, and they want to take care of the baby in turns. They have concluded an agreement with their employers to work part-time and they will also take days of partial parental leave. Venla is the birthing parent and Susanna has acknowledged parenthood of the child.
After the pregnancy leave, Venla is on parental leave all day on Mondays. She can apply for parental allowance for each Monday. She works up to 5 hours in the mornings from Tuesday to Thursday and is on partial parental leave in the afternoons, taking care of the child. She can apply for partial parental allowance for these days. On Fridays, Venla works all day, so she cannot receive parental allowance. Susanna works up to 5 hours in the afternoons from Tuesday to Thursday and is on partial parental leave in the mornings, taking care of the child. She can apply for partial parental allowance for these days. On Fridays, Susanna is on parental leave all day, which means that she can apply for parental allowance. On Mondays, she works all day, so she cannot receive parental allowance.
Example of a situation where you cannot get partial parental allowance
Sisu always works all day on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. On other days, he takes care of the baby at home. He is paid a salary for the days he is working. For the days when Sisu is not working, he can apply for full parental allowance. Sisu cannot apply for partial parental allowance, because it can only be granted if your daily working time does not exceed 5 hours, regardless of how many days a week you work.
Find out for what time you could get parental allowance
You can get pregnancy allowance or parental allowance at the same time as another person who is caring for the child for a maximum of 18 working days. You can both be paid parental allowance at the same time if
both receive parental allowance
one receives pregnancy allowance and the other receives parental allowance
one receives parental allowance and the other receives partial parental allowance.
Days taken at the same time can be taken as consecutive or separate days. If both parents get partial parental allowance, this does not count against the days they can take at the same time.
Talk to your employer about your parental leave arrangements
If you are in paid employment, talk to your employer about your parental leave arrangements. Your employer may have the right to restrict your periods of parental leave. You can take parental leave as soon as you have agreed on it with your employer, even if you have not yet received a decision from Kela on your application.
Different family types and common situations
If you give birth to or adopt more than one child at the same time, you will receive additional parental allowance for 84 working days for the second and each additional child. For example, for twins, parental allowance is paid for 404 (320 + 84) working days and for triplets 488 (320 + 84 + 84) working days.
Parental allowance days are divided equally between both parents also in multiple-birth families. In the case of twins, both parents get parental allowance for 202 working days and in the case of triplets for 244 working days.
Days that can be taken out at the same time
In multiple-birth families, parents can get parental allowance at the same time for a longer period than in single-child families, if they care for the children together. In addition to the usual 18 working days, the parents can take 90 working days at the same time as pregnancy allowance or parental allowance days for the second and each additional child. For example, parents of twins can get parental allowance at the same time for up to 108 working days (18 + 90) and parents of triplets for 198 working days (18 + 90 + 90).
Giving up parental allowance days for the benefit of someone else
You can turn over all the parental allowance days that you are entitled to on the basis of the birth or adoption of more than one child at the same time. In practice, a parent of twins, for example, can turn over a maximum of 105 working days (63 + 42) for instance to the other parent or to their partner, while a parent of triplets can turn over 147 working days (63 + 42 + 42).
You can use all 320 days of parental allowance yourself, and also any additional days that you are entitled to if your baby is born prematurely or if you have twins or more. Of these 320 days, you can turn a maximum of 126 parental allowance days over to another person.
A child has only one parent who is entitled to parental allowance if
the other parent has not been confirmed
the other parent is not the child’s legal guardian
the other parent is not insured under the Finnish Health Insurance Act
the other parent is, due to a long-term illness or injury, unable to take care of the child.
If your baby is born more than 30 working days before the expected due date, you can get parental allowance for an extended period. The number of additional days is based on how many working days earlier than 30 working days before the expected due date the baby was born. Each parent can use half of these additional days of parental allowance or turn over some or all of the additional days to someone else.
For example, if the baby is born 42 working days before the expected due date, the parents will get parental allowance for a total of 12 more working days. The days are divided equally between both parents, so they both get 6 additional working days of parental allowance.
If there is only one parent eligible for parental allowance, that parent is entitled to use all the additional days.
If you have to participate in the hospital care of the child, you can apply for special care allowance. Parental allowance and special care allowance cannot be granted for the same time, but you can cancel days of parental allowance and use them later. If you postpone your parental leave, you must also agree on this with your employer.
Working during parental leave
Parental allowance is not paid for days when you are working full time. You can, however, work on Sundays or midweek holidays because parental allowance is only paid for weekdays (Mon–Sat). You can also apply for partial parental allowance if you work for a maximum of 5 hours a day and you have agreed on part-time work with your employer.
Working means any gainful employment as well as such activities as
working from home
being on call or standby
working in a company owned by yourself or a member of your family
farming or forestry work
independent scientific work and holding an office of trust, if it is connected with your employment or you are paid a fee for it.
However, you are not considered to be working if you hold a position as an elected municipal official according to the Local Government Act. You are, however, considered to be working if you act in that position as a member of a municipal decision-making body. Read more in the Local Government Act (finlex.fi).
You are also not considered to be working if you are an informal caregiver or a family caregiver under the Family Care Act (perhehoitolaki, in Finnish on finlex.fi). This does not, however, apply to professional family care or to acting as a support family.
If you go to work while you are on parental leave, you should cancel your application for parental allowance in OmaKela. Working days for which parental allowance is not paid do not count against the number of days of parental allowance available. The days that you have cancelled will be available to you later.
Studying during parental leave
You can get parental allowance even though you are studying while being on parental leave, as long as you are able to take care of your child while studying. You can receive student financial aid and parental allowance at the same time, and the student financial aid does not affect the amount of parental allowance.
If you study full-time, i.e. you do not care for your child at the same time as you are studying, you should notify Kela of your studies in OmaKela. If you are able to take care of your child while you are studying, you do not have to notify Kela of your studies.
A new child may be born in the family when there are still parental allowance days for an older child that have not been used up. A parent cannot get parental allowance for two different children at the same time. You can choose for which child you apply for the benefit.
One parent may receive parental allowance for an older child at the same time as the other parent receives parental allowance days for a younger child.
The amount of the parental allowance is based on your annual income. Daily allowances which are paid for the same child are based on the same annual income. For example, if you have received pregnancy allowance first, the amount of parental allowance is calculated on the same annual income as the pregnancy allowance. If you apply for parental allowance for different periods, the amount of the daily allowance will remain the same even if your income has changed in the meantime.
If the estimated due date of your baby is before your previous child turns 3 years old, you can get pregnancy allowance and parental allowance on the basis of the same annual or earned income that was used to calculate the allowances for your previous child.
This rule can always be applied when the estimated due date of a new baby is before the previous child turns 3.
Example of daily allowance when a new baby is born before the previous child is 3 years old
The first child in Kerttu’s family was born in 2021, the second one in 2023 and the third one in 2025. The family’s daily allowances for all three children can be calculated based on the same income as for the first-born child.
Similarly, adoptive parents can get parental allowance on the same basis as for a previous biological child or a previously adopted child, if another child is placed in the care of the adoptive parents before 3 years have passed since the birth of their previous child or since a previously adopted child was placed in their care.
The annual earnings are adjusted by a wage coefficient when the annual income used as the basis for the previous daily allowance is used to calculate the new daily allowance. This may result in a slight change in the amount of the allowance, even if the annual income used to calculate the allowance remains the same.
You do not have to notify Kela that you want your daily allowance to be calculated on the basis of your previous income. We will automatically calculate whether it will be more favourable for you to receive daily allowances for parents based on the new annual income or on the same income as for your previous child.
If your annual income exceeds EUR 10,664, you can receive parental allowance at an increased rate. If you have received pregnancy allowance before the parental allowance, the increased amount of the parental allowance will equal the amount of the pregnancy allowance.
You will receive parental allowance at an increased rate for the first 16 working days. The maximum increased allowance corresponds to 90 per cent of your annual earnings.
Kela also pays the increased allowance to persons who are using parental allowance days that have been turned over to them by another parent.
Amount of parental allowance based on annual income
Annual income EUR / year
Calculation formula for the allowance (EUR per working day)
maximum 13,712
31,99 e
13,713 – 43,740
0.7 x annual income : 300
43,741 – 67,296
102.06 + 0.40 x (annual income - 43,740) : 300
over 67,296
133.47 + 0.25 x (annual income - 67,296) : 300
Amount of pregnancy allowance and of parental allowance for first 16 working days based on annual income, 2024
Annual income EUR / year
Calculation formula for the allowance (EUR per working day)
maximum 10,664
minimum rate of allowance
10,665 – 67,296
0.9 x annual income : 300
over 67,296
201.89 + 0.325 x (annual income - 67,296) : 300
Estimate the amount of daily allowance based on your annual income
apply for parental allowance and partial parental allowance
apply for parental allowance days turned over to you
turn over parental allowance days to someone else who is caring for the child.
If you adopt a child, submit a certificate SV 94 (pdf) (available in Finnish or Swedish). You can take a picture of the certificate and send it in OmaKela.
State in your application if your employer pays you a salary during your parental leave. We will pay the parental allowance for that period to your employer. Your employer must submit a separate application to Kela. We will not process your application until your employer has submitted their application.
Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when the allowance will be paid. You can also see reminders of, for instance, supporting documents missing from your application. You will get a decision notice by post unless you have given up paper mail.
If you cannot file an application in OmaKela, you can complete and print out the form Application - Parental benefits SV 15e (pdf). Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
Things to remember when you apply for parental allowance
The birthing parent can claim parental allowance before the child is born, at the same time as the pregnancy allowance. It is also possible to file a separate application for parental allowance.
The other parent, the spouse of a parent or some other legal guardian of the child can claim parental allowance after the child is born.
If you are applying for parental allowance for days that the child’s other parent has turned over to you, you can file the application immediately when the child’s other parent has turned the days over to you. You will not be able to see days that have been turned over to you in OmaKela until you have applied for parental allowance for those days.
If you take the parental leave in several parts, you can claim parental allowance for each part separately or all at once.
Claim parental allowance within 2 months of the start of each period of parental leave at the latest.
Check with your employer if you will be paid a salary during your parental leave. You will need this information when you apply for parental allowance.
If your employer pays a salary during your parental leave, the employer must submit a separate application for the parental allowance. Kela does not issue a decision on parental allowance until we have received applications from both you and your employer.
In general, an employer cannot submit an application until they have paid the salary for the parental leave. You can take leave, as you have agreed with your employer. You do not have to wait for a decision on parental allowance before you go on parental leave.
You cannot receive parental allowance for a period when you are on paid annual leave or another form of paid leave in an employment relationship. If you take annual leave while on parental leave, you should discontinue your parental leave and start a new parental allowance period after your annual leave. One parent may be on paid annual leave at the same time as the other parent is on parental leave.
When is parental allowance paid out?
Parental allowance is paid in arrears for 25 working days at a time or less. You can check the exact payment date in OmaKela once you have received a decision on parental allowance.
Report changes that affect your parental allowance
Remember to report any changes in your circumstances to Kela so that we can pay your parental allowance correctly. The parental allowance can be affected by such changes as starting work during the parental leave. Use OmaKela (available in Finnish and Swedish) to report changes or call our customer service 020 634 2550customer service 020 634 2550.
If you do not report changes, you may be paid benefits you are not entitled to. In that case the benefit will be recovered from you later.
After the end of parental leave
After the end of parental allowance, you can receive child home care allowance if you have a child under 3 years of age who does not have a place in municipal early childhood education. A family can be granted child home care allowance for instance in a situation where one parent has used all of their personal parental allowance days before the child starts day care while the other parent intends to use their personal parental allowance days at a later stage.
You can apply for social assistance if your income, assets and benefits are not enough to cover your necessary living expenses, such as food and housing.