Home care allowance and other support for childcare in Finland
If the family lives permanently in Finland or the parent is entitled to benefits on the basis of employment, Kela may pay child care allowance after parental leave. There are several forms of support available for arranging childcare in different life situations. Children can attend municipal daycare, i.e. early childhood education and care, or they can be cared for with private day care allowance, at home with child home care allowance, or with flexible care allowance. You can get partial care allowance for the care of a child who has started school. Read more about the different options below.
Information on municipal and private early childhood education and care in Finland can be found on the page Childcare and pre-school in Finland.
Information on benefits during pregnancy, childbirth and parental leave in Finland can be found on the page Parental benefits in Finland.
Child home care allowance for children under three years of age
You are entitled to child home care allowance if your child aged between 6 months and 3 years does not have a place in municipal early childhood education and care. You do not have to take care of your child at home yourself; the caregiver can be someone else, such as a grandparent or a hired caregiver.
You can also get child home care allowance for other siblings in your family who are under school age if they do not have a place in municipal early childhood education and care. However, you will no longer be eligible for the allowance once the youngest child in your family turns 3.
Read more about child home care allowance on Kela’s website.
Flexible care allowance for children under three years of age
You can get flexible care allowance from Kela if you work 1–30 hours per week and spend the rest of your time caring for your child under the age of 3. Read more on Kela’s website.
Private day care allowance for children under school age
You can get private day care allowance if your child under school age is in private early childhood education and care or if you have hired a caregiver for them. Read more on Kela’s website.
Partial care allowance for parents of children in grades 1 and 2
You can get partial care allowance if your child is in the 1st or 2nd grade and your working hours are 1–30 hours per week due to childcare. Read more on Kela’s website.
Moving and support for childcare
If you move from one Nordic country to another and have a child, find out about your entitlement to childcare benefits either from Kela or from the foreign institution granting the benefit.
You can get childcare allowances if your child moves to Finland.
You can also get child home care allowance if you come to Finland to work from an EU or EEA country or Switzerland and your child lives in one of these other countries. However, you will not be eligible for municipal assistance in that case. Read more on Kela’s website.
If you move permanently from Finland to another Nordic country, payment of child home care allowance ends on the date of your move, unless you are a family member of a person who continues to work in Finland.
In certain cases, Finnish child home care allowance may be granted temporarily to persons residing abroad. Read more on Kela’s website.
Other childcare benefits are not paid abroad.
More information
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.