Can you get social assistance?

In the calculation of social assistance, adult children are not considered to be part of their parents' family even if they live in the same home. An adult living with their parents must apply for social assistance separately. Their income, assets and expenses do not affect the social assistance of the other family members.

In the calculation of social assistance, a child who is under 18 years old is considered to be a part of their parents’ family. However, the income of a child under 18 does not affect the family’s social assistance if the income is low and irregular. As an example, a child’s earnings from a summer job lasting less than 3 months do not affect the family’s social assistance.

Parents are responsible for the maintenance of their children until the children reach the age of 18 years. Children under 18 can apply for social assistance separately if they live away from their parents. However, Kela checks the income and assets of their parents and evaluates the parents’ ability to provide maintenance for their children. If the person responsible for the child’s maintenance has deliberately neglected their responsibility, the social assistance or part of it can be recovered from the person liable for maintenance.

Persons sharing a house or apartment may form a communal household without being a family. If they do not constitute a family they must apply for assistance separately. For example, when adult siblings or friends live in the same house or apartment, each of them counts as a separate family. This means that each of them should apply for social assistance separately. We will consider their income, assets and expenses separately from the other people who live at the same address.

For persons living in a communal household, the basic amount of social assistance is the equivalent of 85 per cent of the basic amount for a person living alone. The reason for this is that living expenses per person in a communal household are generally lower than the living expenses of someone living alone.

If you are unemployed and between 17 and 64 years of age, you should register with the TE Services as an unemployed jobseeker who is looking for full-time work and is available to the labour market. Do this before you apply for social assistance. Find out if you can get unemployment benefits from your unemployment fund or from Kela.

If you apply for social assistance but you have not registered with the TE Services, we may have to reduce the basic amount of the social assistance.

• You do not need to register with the TE Services if
• you are employed or self-employed
• you study full-time
• you are unfit for work, retired or on parental leave
• you receive farm closure compensation
• you receive rehabilitation allowance or compensation for loss of earnings paid during rehabilitation
• you cannot accept work because you are in institutional care or because you have a diagnosis from a doctor, stating that you have an illness that makes you unfit for work
• you are unable to accept work because of some other acceptable reason, such as
  • you are a family caregiver for at least four hours a day
  • you are an informal caregiver for at least four hours a day
  • you are in military or non-military service
  • you look after your child, who is under 3 years of age, at home.

Before applying for social assistance, first find out if there are other sources of income or benefits available to you. These could be, for example,

• a study grant and student loan
• general housing allowance
• sickness allowance
• rehabilitation allowance.

If you do not qualify for financial aid for students or any other benefits, you must first try to find some source of income other than social assistance (for instance paid employment). During the summer months, you are expected to work, to actively seek employment, or to study and apply for summer financial aid for students. If you do not receive any of the primary benefits for students and you have no earnings when you apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce the basic amount of your social assistance.

Apply for a student loan before you apply for social assistance

All students who are 18 years or older are expected to apply for a student loan first, before they apply for social assistance. In calculating your social assistance, we take your student loan into account as a form of income during the time you are entitled to financial aid for students. We also take any student loans that you have not yet drawn but that are available to you into account as income, even during the summer.

If you do not apply for a government loan guarantee or a loan even though you should be able to get one, we will include the amount of student loan that you could have got in your income. If the bank does not grant you a student loan, provide us with a statement from the bank.

However, you do not have to apply for a student loan if doing so could lead to unreasonable or unfair consequences. Such situations include for example the following:

• You receive follow-up care from the child welfare services.
• Your work ability has deteriorated due to a serious illness or similar reason, and you cannot earn a living.
• You have met with exceptional difficulties in your life, and studying supports your recovery and prevents social exclusion.

In these kinds of situations, we will always examine each case individually.

Reducing the basic amount for a student

Financial aid for students and general housing allowance are the primary benefits for a full-time student. If you cannot get either of those benefits, you will have to earn a living in some other way, such as paid employment. If you are unable to support yourself in any of these ways and you apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce your basic amount. However, the reduction will not be made if you are a student under 18.

It may be necessary to reduce the basic amount if

• you apply for social assistance because your studies are taking longer than planned
  • You must tell us how long you need to complete your degree. A few months, or up to one year, is usually considered reasonable. We will monitor your studies to ensure that they proceed according to plan.
• you have not made enough progress in your studies and your student financial aid payments have been stopped because of this
  • Complete the required studies as soon as possible and apply for student financial aid again. We will monitor your study progress.
• you are studying for a second degree or completing studies for which you cannot receive student financial aid.
  • You must fund these kinds of studies primarily with income from a source such as paid employment.

Before applying for social assistance from Kela, find out if you have the right to any of the primary benefits for self-employed persons. Such primary benefits include start-up grants for newly self-employed persons and unemployment benefits for those who are self-employed on a part-time basis. Read about unemployment benefits for self-employed persons. Further information is available from the TE Services (tyomarkkinatori.fi).

Social assistance is not intended to protect you against the financial risks of self-employment or to cover your business expenses.

If you are self-employed and apply for social assistance, we will examine the profitability of your business. Send the form Statement of self-employment income TO 4e (pdf) with your application.

Your business is considered to be profitable if it produces an income which is roughly the same as the minimum unemployment benefit paid by Kela. If your business is clearly unprofitable, we will give you specific time limit for turning your business into a profitable one or closing it down.

If you choose to continue your unprofitable business after the end of the time limit and you apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce the basic amount of your social assistance.

You can receive social assistance for some of the client fees for housing services, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county.

Communal living and in-home services

If you live in communal housing organised by the wellbeing services county or you receive services from the wellbeing services county in your home, you will pay a monthly fee for these. In addition to you monthly fee, you may have other expenses, such as user fees for public healthcare. We can grant social assistance to cover some of these fees, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county. Ask your wellbeing services county for more information about payment waivers.

Out of the services provided in your home, you can receive social assistance for home care bills and security services. You may also be paying for support services such as meals and cleaning. However, you cannot get social assistance separately for these, because expenses for food and household cleanliness are considered part of the basic amount of social assistance.

If you live in communal housing, you can receive social assistance for your housing expenditure and for expenditure related to daily care and healthcare, such as help with personal hygiene and visits to the sauna.

If you apply for social assistance, send with your application a copy of the decision you have received concerning service charges and user fees. If the decision on user fees does not itemise the services you receive, you must also enclose information showing how much you are paying for each separate service. Give the information in euros or as percentages.

Around-the-clock assisted living

If you live in long-term around-the-clock assisted living provided by the wellbeing services county, you will pay an income-based user fee. The user fee covers all the services you receive, such as meals.

After payment of the user fee, you will be left with a disposable income of a minimum of EUR 182 per month. This is intended for expenses such as clothing, telephone bills, personal hygiene, out-of-pocket charges for transport services, and other costs that are not included in the service you receive.

You can receive social assistance for expenses such as bills for dental care provided within the public healthcare system or for travel costs in connection with public healthcare services. You can also receive social assistance for any housing costs for your around-the-clock assisted living that have not been deducted in the decision on the user fee. However, you cannot get social assistance for housing costs that have been deducted in full in the decision on the user fee. 

If you apply for social assistance, we will take into account as income the amount reserved for your personal use, which is a minimum of EUR 182 per month. You can see the exact amount in the decision on the user fee. The amount of social assistance is also affected by any income and assets you have that have not been taken into account in the decision on the user fee. The basic amount of your social assistance is the equivalent of EUR 182, which is the minimum disposable income in around-the-clock assisted living.

Before applying for social assistance from Kela, find out if you are entitled to a conscript’s allowance.

You can get social assistance towards expenses that are not covered by the conscript’s allowance. This includes expenses such as home insurance. You generally cannot get social assistance for other expenses during your time in service, because you get a daily allowance from your place of service and you also get free lodging, food, healthcare and clothes.

Everyone living in Finland has a duty to provide for themselves.

If necessary, we will assess individually for each applicant whether their stay in Finland is temporary or permanent.

Individuals and families who are permanently resident in Finland

Individuals and families residing permanently in Finland can get social assistance if their available income and assets do not cover their necessary expenses such as food and housing. For purposes of social assistance, income also includes any income and assets they have from outside Finland.

Read more about how income and assets affect social assistance

Individuals and families who are temporarily resident in Finland

If you reside in Finland temporarily, you must first find out if you can get help with your finances and your return home from some other source than Kela. Other possible sources of help include, for instance, money transfers from friends or family, your insurance policy or the diplomatic mission of your home country.

However, anyone staying in Finland, even temporarily, has a right to emergency support to secure their essential means of subsistence and care. If your situation is urgent, you can get a voucher from Kela for necessities such as food and necessary prescription medicines. The social services of the wellbeing services county assist with finding temporary emergency lodging.

If you are in urgent need of social assistance, call Kela’s customer service number 020 634 2550 or visit a Kela service point.

Asylum seekers

If you are an asylum seeker receiving immigrant reception services, you cannot get social assistance. The reason for this is that the Finnish Government secures your livelihood and provides other services in the form of immigrant reception services.

Persons fleeing the war in Ukraine

Read about social assistance for those fleeing the war in Ukraine.