On parental leave

Daily allowances for parents is a collective term for the following benefits:

• pregnancy allowance and special pregnancy allowance
• parental allowance and partial parental allowance
• paternity allowance (if the estimated due date of the baby was before 4 September 2022)

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.

One person can get parental allowance for a maximum of 18 working days at the same time as another person who is also caring for the child, 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. 

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

If the parents decide to give their child up for adoption, they must contact the social welfare office of their home municipality or Save the Children. If the birthing parent is not working, they are entitled to pregnancy allowance and parental allowance for a continuous period of at least 105 working days. The family should notify Kela of the adoption in order to avoid being paid too much allowance.

If a child is taken into custody or is placed in emergency institutional or foster care, the parent can get parental allowance only if he or she is taking care of the child. That may be the case for example when the child is on home leave.

A birthing parent who is not working can get pregnancy allowance and parental allowance for a continuous period of at least 105 working days.

Social services will notify Kela if a child is taken into custody or placed in emergency care, and also report whether the parent is participating in the care of the child.

If the child has an illness or a disability and you have to participate in the care of the child in hospital or at home, 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.

If one of the child’s parents is taken seriously ill or becomes disabled so that he or she is unable to care for the child, all unused parental allowance days are transferred to the other parent. The days can be transferred if the parent is not expected to recover from the illness or injury by the time the child reaches the age of 2.

Sickness allowances

Death of a child

If a child is stillborn or dies at birth or soon thereafter, the birthing parent can get pregnancy or parental allowance for a consecutive period of 105 working days. One prerequisite for entitlement to the benefit is that the pregnancy had lasted at least 154 days (22 weeks of pregnancy). 

The entitlement of the child’s other parent to parental allowance can start from the date of death of the child. The other parent can receive parental allowance for a total of 25 days (date of death + 24 working days).

If a child dies later but under the age of 2, both parents can get parental allowance. They can get parental allowance for 24 working days from the day following the death of the child, if they each have a sufficient number of parental allowance days left.

The parents can take out all 24 parental allowance days at the same time, even if they have already used all the days that they are otherwise allowed to take out at the same time.

The parent must stay off work in order to receive parental allowance.

Death of a parent

If a parent dies before the child turns 2, the other parent or another person who is caring for the child can get parental allowance. Parental allowance can be paid for as many days as there are days left unused by the deceased parent.

The person taking care of the child does not have to be the legal guardian of the child.

The child’s other parent or another person who is caring for the child can apply for child benefit for themselves. They can get a single-parent supplement to the child benefit if they are not married or cohabiting.

If one or both of the child’s parents die, the child will receive an orphan’s pension. A widow or widower receives a surviving spouse’s pension. A widow/widower or a child may also be entitled to survivors’ pension or assistance pension under an accident, motor third party, military accident or patient insurance policy.

If a child’s parent has been sentenced to prison, the other parent has the right to use the days of parental allowance left unused by the parent who is in prison. A condition for this is that the prison sentence does not end before the child reaches the age of 2.