Parental Allowance for the mother or the father
The parental leave begins after the maternity leave. During the parental leave, Kela pays Parental Allowance for 158 working days (a little over half a year). Your child will be about 9 months old when your entitlement to the Parental Allowance ends.
The parental leave can be taken either by the mother or the father, or it can be shared so as to enable them to take turns looking after their child. Both cannot be on parental leave at the same time (with the exception of the parents of multiple-birth children). Both parents can take the parental leave in up to 2 separate periods of at least 12 working days each. See this calculation for an example of how a family's income is affected if the father takes the parental leave instead of the mother.
The criteria used to calculate Maternity, Paternity and Parental Allowances are the same. For details, see Amount. The benefit calculator lets you estimate the amount of Parental Allowance you would be entitled to. The benefit duration calculator can be used to find out how long you could expect to get Parental Allowance.
Payment of the Parental Allowance is extended for parents with multiple-birth children. The payment period is extended by 60 working days for the second and each additional child. The extension can be added on to the end of the Maternity Allowance or the Parental Allowance period, or it can be used during the Maternity Allowance or Parental Allowance period, in which case both parents can stay at home at the same time.
In the case of premature birth, Kela pays Maternity Allowance starting from the day following the birth. The Parental Allowance period of the parent taking the parental leave is extended by as many days as the Maternity Allowance was brought forward.
Depending on the amount of Maternity, Paternity or Parental Allowance payable, parents may be eligible for Child Home Care Allowance at the same time if they have another child who is under school age but does not attend municipal day care.
Also, they can both work part time and share child care duties with one looking after the child in the morning and the other in the afternoon, for example. They are entitled to Partial Parental Allowance from Kela.