Kela receives more applications for basic social assistance than previously – One in four applicants fails to meet criteria
The most common reason for the rejection of an application for social assistance is that the applicant's income exceeds the criteria for social assistance. Another common reason is that the customer has not submitted the supporting documents, such as bank statements, that Kela needs to process their application despite requests to do so.
The number of applications for social assistance received by Kela has increased significantly over the past year. In 2023, Kela received a total of 1,398,484 applications for social assistance. In 2024, this figure climbed to 1,592,641, which translates to an increase of almost 14% in the number of applications.
Currently, however, approximately 23–25% of all applications for social assistance are rejected. The percentage of rejected applications is as high as 60% among those who apply for the first time.
“By far the most common reason for the rejection of an application is that the applicant earns just enough income so that they do not meet the criteria for this last-resort benefit,” says Petri Hannula, Director of Kela’s Customer Service Unit.
Social assistance is paid out as a last resort, which means that it is intended for situations where a person's income, assets and other benefits are not enough to keep them afloat.
According to Hannula, another common reason for rejection is that the customer has not submitted the supporting documents, such as bank statements, that Kela needs to process their application despite being asked to do so. Kela asks applicants to submit bank statements because they allow Kela to form a reliable overall picture of the applicant’s finances.
Kela has addressed the increase in workload caused by the deluge of applications by training more social assistance experts from among its other benefit administration specialists. These efforts have ensured that applications for social assistance can be processed in under seven working days, which is the statutory limit for their processing time.
Hannula points out that every application must be processed with the appropriate amount of care. You cannot see at first glance whether an application will lead to the benefit being granted.
All available income and assets affect social assistance
It is thought that one of the reasons for the increase in the number of applications for social assistance lies in the cuts made to many benefits that take precedence over social assistance. Legislative amendments that particularly affect housing allowance and unemployment benefits were introduced in 2024 and early 2025.
According to Hannula, some customers may have the misconception that they can automatically get social assistance to cover the gap in their finances caused by the cuts made to their other benefits.
“We are particularly concerned about customers who may plan their lives around the belief that they can easily qualify for social assistance. Many do not understand how strict the qualifying criteria actually are. The reality may come as a big disappointment for these customers, leaving them to struggle with basics such as paying rent,” says Hannula.
The amount of social assistance is calculated by deducting all necessary expenses for which social assistance can be granted, such as the costs of housing and food, from all the income and assets available to the applicant. If the applicant has more eligible expenses than income, the difference will be paid to them as social assistance.
Example calculations for social assistance
The following examples can help show how social assistance is calculated. It should be noted that the basic amount of social assistance is considered an expense in these examples. The basic amount is based on a calculation of the amount needed to cover the essential costs of daily living, such as food and bus tickets. Read more about the basic amount and the types of expenses covered by social assistance.