Kela Benefits in Finland — What You Can Claim (2026 Guide)

1. First question: are you covered by Finnish social security?

Kela does not pay benefits simply because you are in Finland. Coverage generally depends on either living in Finland permanently or working here Laki asumisperusteisesta sosiaaliturvasta 16/2019.

• Moving to Finland permanently (for example with a continuous residence permit, family ties, or an employment contract of sufficient length) usually brings you within residence-based social security. Kela decides this and issues your Kela card.
• Working in Finland can make you covered as a worker even before you are treated as a permanent resident, if your pay and hours meet the threshold.
• Short stays, studies or seasonal work may give only limited or no coverage. EU/EEA citizens and posted workers follow separate EU coordination rules.

Apply for a coverage decision as soon as you arrive — many other benefits depend on it.

2. Help with housing — yleinen asumistuki

The general housing allowance helps low-income households with rent. It is paid per household, looks at everyone's income and the rent up to a regional ceiling, and is one of the most widely claimed Kela benefits.

Students have their own route (students now generally use the general housing allowance too), and pensioners have a separate pensioners' housing allowance. Apply in OmaKela with your tenancy agreement and income details.

3. Money for children and families

• Child benefit (lapsilisä): a monthly payment for every child under 17 living in Finland, regardless of the family's income Lapsilisälaki 796/1992.
• Parental allowances (vanhempainpäiväraha): income-based payments for parents around the birth or adoption of a child, including pregnancy and parental leave.
• Child home care allowance (kotihoidon tuki): if a child under 3 is cared for at home instead of municipal day care.

4. If you lose your job — unemployment benefits

Register as a jobseeker with the employment services on your first day of unemployment — benefits are not paid for time before you register. Kela pays the basic unemployment allowance (peruspäiväraha) and labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki) to those who are not in an earnings-related unemployment fund.

5. Illness, disability and health costs

• Sickness allowance (sairauspäiväraha): compensates for loss of income during an illness that prevents you from working, after a short waiting period, with a medical certificate.
• Medicine and travel reimbursements: Kela reimburses part of prescription-medicine costs and certain healthcare travel above an annual deductible.
• Disability and rehabilitation benefits: support for long-term illness, disability, and Kela-funded rehabilitation.

6. The safety net — toimeentulotuki (social assistance)

Basic social assistance is the last-resort benefit when your income and other benefits are not enough to cover essential everyday expenses such as food, rent and electricity. Kela handles basic social assistance; the municipality handles supplementary and preventive social assistance.

7. How to apply

1. Use OmaKela at kela.fi (log in with online banking ID or a Kela username), or a paper form if you cannot use the e-service.
2. Attach the documents requested — tenancy agreement, payslips, medical certificate, decision letters.
3. Answer any request for further information by the date given; missing information is the most common cause of delay or refusal.
4. Keep the written decision you receive — you need it to understand your rights and to appeal if necessary.

8. If Kela refuses or pays less than you expected

Every Kela decision can be challenged, and the decision letter explains how. The route runs through an independent appeal system, not the ordinary courts:

1. Ask Kela to review the decision (oikaisuvaatimus / valitus): you send your appeal to Kela, in writing, usually within 30 days of being notified. Kela can correct its own decision.
2. Social Security Appeal Board: if Kela does not change the decision in your favour, it forwards your appeal to the independent appeal board (sosiaaliturva-asioiden muutoksenhakulautakunta).
3. Insurance Court (vakuutusoikeus): the final appeal stage for most benefit disputes.

State clearly which decision you are appealing, what you want changed, and why — and attach any evidence (for example a medical statement or corrected income figures) that supports you.