You can get child home care allowance if you meet the following requirements:
You are the parent of a child, the spouse or partner of the parent, or a legal guardian of the child.
Your child is older than 6 months (at least 160 working days have passed since the birth) and younger than 3 years of age.
Your child does not have a place in municipal early childhood education.
You care for the child yourself or you have arranged for someone else to care for the child.
You can work or take annual leave at the same time as you receive child home care allowance.
You can also get child home care allowance for other siblings under school age who do not have a place in municipal early childhood education. However, you cannot get the allowance after the family's youngest child has reached the age of 3.
a married spouse or cohabiting partner of the parent or guardian of the child
a hired caregiver or other person who cares for the child.
Child home care allowance is paid to the parent, spouse or partner of the parent or other legal guardian who cares for the child. A non-custodial parent (i.e. a parent whose child does not live with them for a majority of the time) can apply for child home care allowance if the child lives with them for part of the time and the parents have agreed on it.
However, if the child is looked after by someone else, such as a grandparent, the allowance is paid to the applicant, for example the parent.
Adoptive parents can also be paid child home care allowance for children over 3 years of age. If a child has been placed with a family before 31 July 2022, child home care allowance is paid until 2 years have passed since the start of the parental allowance or until the child starts school.
Adoptive parents can also be paid child home care allowance for children over 3 years of age. If a child is placed with a family on or after 31 July 2022, the family can get child home care allowance until 2 years have passed from the date of placement or until the child starts school.
You can hire a day care provider and receive child home care allowance for a child under 3 years of age or private day care allowance for a child under school age. In that case, you are the day care provider's employer.
The family can hire a day care provider together with one or several other families. In such a day care pool, one day care provider looks after the children usually by turns in each child's home. Each family can receive child home care allowance for a child under 3 years of age or private day care allowance for a child under school age.
The amount of the allowance is affected, for instance, by the time of day care. The municipality (locality) may also pay a municipal supplement to the allowance. The families agree themselves on the wage payment to the day care provider.
Kela pays child home care allowance to the family, and the family can use the allowance to pay wages to the day care provider. A day care provider hired by a family that receives child home care allowance does not have to be approved by the municipality.
Parents employing a day care provider
When you hire a day care provider under an employment contract, you must, as the employer, withhold taxes on the wage according to the day care provider's tax card. In addition you must pay social security contributions and statutory insurance contributions, including unemployment insurance contribution, earnings-related pension contribution, workers' compensation and group life assurance premium. Pay the contributions for the whole wage, also for the share corresponding to the allowance paid by Kela.
When a private household acts as employer it must also arrange occupational health care for the employee.
The child home care allowance consists of a care allowance and a care supplement. Your municipality of residence may also pay a municipal supplement to the care allowance.
Care allowance for one child under the age of 3
EUR 377.68 per month
For each additional child under the age of 3
EUR 113.07 per month
For each additional child who has reached the age of 3 but is still under school age
EUR 72.66 per month
The care supplement can be paid for one child only. The highest possible amount is EUR 202.12 per month.
The amount of the care supplement is affected by family size and gross income, that is to say income before taxes. Up to four persons are included in the family size: 2 adults and up to 2 children under school age. Children for whom daily allowances for parents are paid and children who attend school are not included in the number of people in the family. If you are the only parent in your family, only your income will affect the care supplement. If you live together with your spouse or partner, your spouse’s or partner’s income will be included in the total family income even if your spouse or partner is not the guardian of your children.
The following are also included in the total family income:
the income of any children for whom child home care allowance or private day care allowance is paid
partial and flexible care allowance.
The care allowance and the municipal supplement do not count as income.
You get the full care supplement if your family's monthly income does not exceed an income limit determined by family size. If you exceed that income limit, the care supplement is reduced by a specific percentage. There is also a maximum income limit after which no care supplement is paid.
Family size (number of people)
Gross income, max. amount that entitles to full care supplement
Reduction (%)
Gross income, amount at which no care supplement is paid
2
EUR 1,160 per month
11,5 %
EUR 2,917.53 per month
3
EUR 1,430 per month
9,4 %
EUR 3,580.16 per month
4 or more
EUR 1,700 per month
7,9 %
EUR 4,258.42 per month
The amount of municipal supplement and the eligibility criteria for it vary depending on the municipality. Not all municipalities pay a municipal supplement.
Some municipalities that pay a municipal supplement have an agreement with Kela that the supplement will be paid to the customer by Kela in connection with the child home care allowance. You can use a calculator to find out if you will receive municipal supplement from Kela and how much supplement you will get. If Kela pays your municipal supplement, you do not need to apply for it separately, as Kela will pay the supplement automatically in connection with your child home care allowance.
If the calculator shows that you will not receive a municipal supplement from Kela, check with your municipality of residence whether the municipality pays a municipal supplement. If the municipality pays a municipal supplement, you must submit an application for municipal supplement to the municipality.
If your family includes for example twins, you can get the full amount of child home care allowance due to a child under the age of 3 for one of the children. For the other children under the age of 3, you will be paid an amount equal to the increase for siblings. Care supplement is paid for one child only.
Use a calculator to estimate the amount of child care allowance
For what time can I get child home care allowance?
Child home care allowance is not paid for periods shorter than one month. The one-month minimum requirement is met even if the parents take turns applying for child home care allowance, as long as the periods for which the allowance is paid total at least one month without interruptions.
An allowance period does not have to start from the beginning of the month. The payment can also end midway through a calendar month, in which case the allowance for part of the month will be paid on the last day of the month.
If, for example, you take a paid annual leave but do not withdraw your child from municipal early childhood education for the duration of the leave, you cannot get child home care allowance for that period.
Payment of the child home care allowance ends in the following situations, among others:
The family no longer has a child under 3 years of age.
The child starts municipal early childhood education.
The child starts school. Payment of the allowance for a child starting school will end by 31 July.
Pregnancy allowance, parental allowance and paternity allowance
Child home care allowance cannot be paid for a child for whom pregnancy allowance, parental allowance or paternity allowance is already being paid.* However, the family can get child home care allowance for other children in the family.
In practice, care allowance is paid only if the pregnancy allowance, parental allowance or paternity allowance is small and the family includes several children under school age who do not have a place in municipal early childhood education. The amount of care allowance paid out is calculated as the difference between the care allowance and the pregnancy allowance, parental allowance or paternity allowance.
Care supplement can be paid if the family’s income does not exceed a certain income limit.
* Paternity allowance is only available to families whose child’s estimated due date was before 4 September 2022 or who took in an adoptive child before 31 July 2022.
Example of how pregnancy allowance affects the care allowance
A mother receives EUR 800 per month in pregnancy allowance. In addition to the baby, the mother takes care of the family's other children, aged 2, 5, and 6 years, at home and she applies for care allowance for them. Care allowance is paid if the amount of it exceeds the amount of the pregnancy allowance. In this case, the care allowance would be EUR 377.68 + EUR 72.66 + EUR 72.66 = EUR 523.00 per month. However, no care allowance is paid because the amount of the pregnancy allowance (EUR 800 per month) is higher than the care allowance (EUR 523.00 per month).
Example of how pregnancy allowance affects the care supplement
A mother receives EUR 800 per month in pregnancy allowance. In addition to the baby, the mother takes care of the family's other children, aged 2, 5, and 6 years, at home and she applies for child home care allowance for them. The care allowance for the family’s other children would be EUR 377.68 + EUR 72.66 + EUR 72.66 = EUR 523.00. The amount taken into account as income when determining the care supplement is EUR 800 – EUR 523.00 = EUR 277 per month. Additionally, the father of the family earns a salary of EUR 3,500 per month. This means that the amount taken into account as the family’s income when determining the care supplement is the pregnancy allowance of EUR 277 per month and the salary of EUR 3,500 per month, i.e. in total EUR 3,777 per month. The family is entitled to care supplement because their income is below the income limit of EUR 4258.42 per month. The amount of care supplement is approximately EUR 38 per month.
Example of how paternity allowance affects the child home care allowance
A family has only one child, and the payment of parental allowance for the child ended on 10 June. The family's right to child home care allowance started on 11 June.
The father takes paternity leave from 7 July to 20 August. The family cannot get child home care allowance from 11 June to 6 July because that does not constitute a full month. Child home care allowance cannot be paid during the paternity leave because a paternity allowance is paid for the child. Therefore, child home care allowance is not paid for the period 11 June to 20 August.
Financial aid for students
Financial aid for students does not affect the child home care allowance, but the child home care allowance counts as income for the purposes of monitoring the income of financial aid recipients. The income limit for student financial aid depends on the number of months for which you take out financial aid.
Unemployment benefits
If you receive an unemployment benefit, the child home care allowance paid to you or your spouse or partner is deducted from the unemployment benefit. If you receive a municipal supplement, the supplement is not deducted from the unemployment benefit. However, child home care allowance is not deducted from the unemployment benefit if one of the parents receives child home care allowance and looks after the child while the other is fully unemployed. When you apply for child home care allowance, Kela determines how it will affect any unemployment benefits you may receive. If you or your spouse or partner receive earnings-related daily allowance, you should contact your unemployment fund to find out how your child home care allowance will affect the unemployment allowance.
Private day care allowance
Families with more than one child can be paid child home care allowance and private day care allowance at the same time, provided that they are paid for different children. Both allowances at the same time are not available for one and the same child. Use the calculator to estimate which benefits you can receive for your child and the benefit amounts.
How other benefits affect the care supplement
Care supplement can be paid in the normal manner if the family's total gross income does not constitute a hindrance for payment of the supplement. The following types of income, among others, affect the amount of care supplement:
pregnancy allowance, parental allowance and paternity allowance
sickness allowance
unemployment allowance.
If a family is paid a daily allowance for parents and child home care allowance at the same time, only the difference between the daily allowance for parents and the child home care allowance counts as income when determining the care supplement.
Example of how parental allowance affects the child home care allowance
The family has one child, born on 1 October 2023. A parent of the child was first paid pregnancy allowance and then parental allowance for 160 working days. Payment of the parental allowance ends on 25 April 2023. The entitlement to child home care allowance begins on 26 April 2024. The other parent is on parental leave and receives parental allowance between 2 and 8 May 2024. Child home care allowance cannot be paid during the parental leave because a parental allowance is being paid for the child. Child home care allowance cannot be paid for the period between the two parental leaves (26 April–1 May 2024) either, because that does not constitute a full month. This means that child home care allowance cannot be paid for the period 26 April to 8 May 2024.
Use a calculator to estimate the period for which you can get child home care allowance
Use the OmaKela e-service to apply for child home care allowance. OmaKela is available in Finnish and Swedish. If you live in the Åland Islands you must apply for child home care allowance from your municipality of residence.
The person applying for child home care allowance must always be a parent of the child, a parent's spouse or partner or a legal guardian of the child, even if the child’s caregiver is someone else. If both parents are caregivers, they must agree between themselves who is to submit the application.
Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela. Check the application to see which supporting documents you need to submit.
Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your application has been decided, how much allowance you will get and when it will be paid. You will also see possible reminders concerning, for instance, any documents missing from your application. Kela will also send you a decision notice by post unless you have chosen not to receive paper mail.
If you cannot submit the application in the OmaKela e-service, complete and print out the application form for child home care allowance WH1e (pdf). Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
It is recommended to apply for child home care allowance well before payment of the parental allowance ends. The right to child home care allowance starts immediately after the payment of parental allowance ends, even if you take annual leave. The allowance can be granted retrospectively for a maximum of 6 months.
You can apply for the allowance for a fixed period of time. If you do not indicate any end date for payment of the child home care allowance in the application, the allowance is granted until the youngest child reaches the age of 3 years.
Every year Kela reviews if there have been any changes to your family’s income that affect the care supplement. When it is time for the annual review, you will get a letter from Kela. You must reply to this letter. If you have chosen not to receive paper mail, you will get the letter as a message in OmaKela instead.
After the annual review has been completed, you will receive a new decision notice on your child home care allowance. If your income has decreased, the care supplement can be increased retrospectively for a maximum of 6 months.
When is child home care allowance paid out
Child home care allowance is paid
monthly on the last banking day of the month
If you receive a decision on your application after the 10th day of the month, the allowance will be paid on the last banking day of the following month. Your decision notice shows the first payment date of the allowance.
Report changes in your circumstances
Remember to report all changes in your circumstances that affect the child home care allowance to Kela so that the benefit can be paid correctly. Report the changes in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) or by calling Kela.
If you receive child home care allowance or private day care allowance you must immediately report the following changes to Kela:
The child is granted a place in municipal early childhood education (child home care allowance and private day care allowance are not paid if the child attends municipal early childhood education).
The circumstances of the child’s care change (e.g. time or place of day care, day care fee or day care provider).
The child starts preschool.
Your family moves to another municipality.
Your family or your child leaves Finland to stay abroad for more than 3 months
If you are paid care supplement to the child home care allowance or private day care allowance, you must also report the following:
if there is a change in your family's income
if you and your unmarried partner start living together or you break up.
Family size and the income of all family members affect the amount of the care supplement.
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.
