The information on this page applies to your family if:
Maternity allowance, special maternity allowance and parental allowance can no longer be applied for. Paternity allowance can still be applied for.
The maternity, special maternity, paternity and parental allowances are all calculated in the same way. You can estimate the amount of daily allowances for parents by using the calculator (in Finnish).
The allowance for parents is determined on the basis of an annual income. The annual income is calculated for a reference period of 12 calendar months prior to the calendar month that precedes the start of the entitlement to allowance for parents.
There is a gap of 1 month between the reference period and the start of the allowance period, and the income during this time is not taken into account.
The following are taken into account in the annual income:
The annual income can consist of one or several of the aforementioned types of income. Kela usually receives the necessary information from the national incomes register and the insurance providers, so this information need not be reported to Kela separately.
Paternity and parental allowances are paid for working days. Working days are Monday to Saturday, with the exception of official holidays.
If you have had no income from work, you will be paid the allowance at a minimum rate.
In 2023, the minimum daily rate is
All allowances paid for one and the same child are calculated on the basis of the same income, such as when a person first receives maternity or paternity allowance and later begins to receive parental allowance. For example, when a father receives paternity allowance in several different periods, the paternity allowance paid during the latter periods is calculated on the basis of the same income as the initial allowance even if the father's income increases or decreases in the meantime.
If you have a child before your second-youngest child is 3 years old, you can get maternity, paternity and parental allowance on the basis of the same income as was used with the second-youngest child. The requirement for this is that the expected due date precedes the second-youngest child's 3rd birthday. If the earlier allowance was calculated on the basis of a preceding benefit and not on the basis of earnings, this method of calculation cannot be used.
Similarly, adoptive parents can get a maternity, paternity or parental allowance on the basis of a preceding allowance if they take an adopted child into their care before three years have passed since an older adopted child was placed in their care.
This rule can be used whenever a child is born before an older sibling has reached the age of 3 years. For example, if parents have their first child in 2020, their second in 2023 and their third in 2026, the allowance for all three children can be calculated on the basis of the allowance paid for the first child.
When earnings used to calculate a previous maternity, paternity or parental allowance are used to determine a new allowance, the earnings are adjusted by wage coefficients for the year in which the entitlement for the allowance begins and the preceding year. This may mean a change in the rate of the allowance, even if the earnings used as the basis for calculating the allowances are the same.
When claiming a maternity, paternity or parental allowance, you do not need to tell Kela that you want it to be paid on the basis of your earlier income. This information will be available to Kela automatically when dealing with your claim.
Maternity and special maternity allowances are paid in arrears every 25 working days. The initial maternity allowance instalment, however, is for 30 days.
Parental allowance is paid in arrears every 25 working days. However, the final instalment of the parental allowance is paid after the allowance period is over.
Paternity allowance is paid in arrears for one or several paternity leave periods at a time or in instalments of 25 working days if one paternity leave period is longer than this.
Kela sends the data on daily allowances for parents paid out to the national incomes register within five days of the date of payment.
Visit Kela's e-service to check the next payment date. Please note that our e-service is only available in Finnish and Swedish. Log in using your online banking user ID and password or a mobile certificate.