Unemployment pension

The purpose of Unemployment Pensions is to provide income security for aging unemployed persons who are under the statutory retirement age. Payable under both the earnings-related and national pension systems, Unemployment Pension can only be awarded to persons born before 1950.

If you were born in 1950 or thereafter, you cannot be paid an Unemployment Pension. However, you can be paid Unemployment Allowance or Labour Market Subsidy until you reach age 65. 

To qualify for an Unemployment Pension under the National Pensions Act, you must be between 62 and 64 years of age and

• have worked for at least 5 years during the previous 15 years
• have received a certificate about your unemployment from the labour administration
• have been issued a certificate by Kela or your unemployment fund about having reached the 500-day maximum for the payment of the unemployment allowance or about the number of days of extended unemployment allowance paid to you before age 60.

Besides an unemployment pension, you can be paid a Child Increase and a Housing Allowance for Pensioners, but not a Care Allowance for Pensioners. Unemployment pensions are usually automatically converted into an old-age pension when the recipient reaches the age of 65. The amount of the pension changes only if there are changes in any other pensions the recipient may have.

A small amount of employment is allowed even if you receive an unemployment pension. If you earn more or if you decline a job offered by the employment office that would last at least a month, Kela will halt the payment of your pension.

More than a month’s residence abroad may stop the payment of your Unemployment Pension if you are not willing to return to Finland to accept a job offer. Such situations are always determined case by case.