Daily and child care allowances for parents

As self-employed, you are eligible for daily allowances that Kela provides for parents. Following the daily allowance period, it is possible to receive child care allowances. The easiest way to apply for benefits for yourself is to use the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).

The amount of the daily allowances for parents is based on annual income. For self-employed persons, the annual income is equivalent to the earned income subject to YEL (Self-Employed Persons' Pensions Act) or MYEL (Farmers' Pensions Act) insurance.

The daily allowances for parents are paid to the self-employed person personally. 

When your child is born

1. Read first how and for which period you can get pregnancy allowance and parental allowance.
2. The amount of the allowance is based on an annual income. There is an online calculator (in Finnish) you can use to estimatehow much your allowance will be.
3. Read how to apply for daily allowances for parents and how much they are about the amount of the allowances:

   • pregnancy allowance and special pregnancy allowance
   • parental allowance and partial parental allowance
4. Read instructions for how to apply for paternity allowance if your child was due to be born before 4 September 2022.

Returning to work

If you are working shorter hours, you can get partial parental allowance. You can also get parental allowance for specific days on which you care for your child.

1. Read more about how work affects different types of allowance for parents:

   • pregnancy allowance and special pregnancy allowance
   • parental allowance and partial parental allowance
2. Find out how working affects paternity allowance if your child was due to be born before 4 September 2022:.
3. If your situation changes, report via the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).
4. If you want to work at the same time as you care for the child together with the other parent, please read more about the partial parental allowance.

Child care after a parental leave

1. There are many ways of arranging day care for the child after a parental leave. Your child can be in municipal or private early childhood education or can be looked after at home. Read more about the childcare allowances provided by Kela:

   • Private day care allowance
   • Child home care allowance
   • Flexible care allowance
   • Partial care allowance
2. If your situation changes, report via the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).