Labour market subsidy | Our Services | KelaSkip to content

Labour market subsidy

The labour market subsidy is one of the two unemployment benefits provided by Kela. The labour market subsidy provides economic security while you are looking for work.

Eligibility for labour market subsidy

You can receive labour market subsidy if you are unemployed and

  • you enter the labour market for the first time or you have not worked long enough, i.e. you do not meet the work requirement
  • you can no longer receive basic or earnings-related unemployment allowance since your entitlement to these benefits has ended.

If you meet the work requirement, the unemployment benefit you receive is basic unemployment allowance or earnings-related unemployment allowance.

Read more about the work requirement and the other unemployment benefits.

You can receive labour market subsidy for as long as you are unemployed since its duration has not been restricted. However, when you apply for labour market subsidy we will investigate if you need it. This is called means-testing.

If you have no completed vocational qualifications, you must complete a 21-week qualifying period to be eligible for labour market subsidy. Upper secondary school education is not considered a vocational qualification. The qualifying period concerns jobseekers of all ages.

How much is the labour market subsidy?

The labour market subsidy amounts to
EUR 37.21 per day
The average benefit amounts to
EUR 800.02 per month

Labour market subsidy is paid for 5 days a week (including mid-week holidays).

You must pay tax on the labour market subsidy.

Estimate the amount of the labour market subsidy using a calculator

Go to calculator (in Finnish)

AnkkuriIncreases to the benefit

You can receive an increase to the labour market subsidy, if you have dependent children under 18 years of age or if you participate in employment promoting services.

Child increases to be discontinued as of 1 April 2024

The child increases to basic unemployment allowance and labour market subsidy paid by Kela will be discontinued as of 1 April 2024.

Learn more

Child increase to the labour market subsidy
Number of childrenEUR per day
One child5,84
Two children8,57
Three children or more11,05

The child increase is payable starting from the birth of the child. You can also receive child increase for your spouse's/partner's underage children if they life in the same household.

If you participate in employment promoting services, you can receive an increase to the basic unemployment allowance for the duration of the participation in the service. The increase amounts to EUR 5.29 per day, or on average EUR 111 per month. The increase can be paid for a maximum of 200 working days in total.

AnkkuriIncome that reduces the labour market subsidy

The labour market subsidy is reduced by

  • your own earnings that exceed EUR 300 per month
  • your parents’ income if you live with them
  • other income than wages, for instance capital income.

If you for instance receive a wage or salary from part-time work, the wage or salary reduces the amount of the labour market subsidy. In this case, you receive adjusted labour market subsidy. However, you can earn up to EUR 300 per month without it affecting your benefit.

Kela uses primarily the data from the most recently finalised tax assessment as regards other income than wages and salaries. If your income has changed significantly, tell Kela about it.

We also take into account capital income and other income than wages and salaries that you have received at other times than during the unemployment period. Regular income, for instance dividends, is periodised as income over a period of one year.

If you live with your parents, their income may affect your labour market subsidy. If your parents’ income does not exceed EUR 1,781 per month in total, the reduction is not made. Each underage child who lives with your parents and whom the parents provide for increases the income limit by EUR 106 per month.

If your parents' income exceeds the income limit, your labour market subsidy will be reduced by half of the income that exceeds the income limit (EUR 1,781 per month). However, you will still get at least half your labour market subsidy.

You can use the calculator to estimate whether your parents’ income will affect your labour market subsidy (in Finnish).

Parents' family circumstancesIn order for you to receive the full labour market subsidy, your parents can together earn a maximum of:Combined income of the parents; if exceeded you get 50% of the labour market subsidy

No dependent children

EUR 1,781 per monthEUR 2 581 per month
1 childEUR 1 887 per monthEUR 2 687 per month
2 childrenEUR 1 993 per monthEUR 2 793 per month
3 childrenEUR 2 099 per monthEUR 2 899 per month
4 childrenEUR 2 205 per monthEUR 3 005 per month
5 children or moreEUR 2 311 per monthEUR 3 111 per month

You must report your parents’ income in your application for labour market subsidy if you live with them. If you do not provide this information, you will automatically be granted 50% of the labour market subsidy due to you.

If you can prove that your parents cannot support you financially, you can receive the labour market subsidy without reduction. Such a situation can occur for instance if your parents have large debt-related expenses.

If you participate in employment promoting services, you will receive the full labour market subsidy for this period even if you live with your parents.

Joonatan receives labour market subsidy and lives with his mother. His 8-year-old brother also lives at home. The mother earns a salary of EUR 2,200 per month. The mother has no commuting costs that can be deducted from the salary, but she pays a membership fee to an unemployment fund to the amount of EUR 84 per year. The fee is deducted from her income.

The full labour market subsidy (EUR 37.21 per day) is reduced by 50% of the mother’s income that exceeds the income limit (EUR 1,887). Joonatan receives EUR 31.30 per day in labour market subsidy.

Elli, who is applying for labour market subsidy, lives with her mother and father. The household also includes 3 underage siblings. The combined income of the parents amounts to EUR 4,500 per month, which means that the income exceeds the income limit of EUR 2,866. On the basis of this, Elli would receive 50% of the labour market subsidy.

Elli sends documentation to Kela, showing that the parents have qualified for debt restructuring. The parents cannot support their adult daughter financially because there are also dependent minors in the family. Elli receives labour market subsidy to the full amount.

Your capital income and other income may reduce the amount of the labour market subsidy. They are thus incomes that are taken into account in the means-testing. Capital income includes for instance income from rent, forest holdings, interest and dividends (also dividends on equity savings accounts).

The amount of the labour market subsidy is also affected by

  • informal care allowance
  • compensations for family caregivers
  • copyright royalties
  • partial early old-age pension.

However, you can have income up to a certain amount without any effect on your benefit.

Other income than wages and salaries does not reduce your labour market subsidy in the following situations:

  • You have reached the age of 55 years and you have met the work requirement before becoming unemployed.
  • You participate in employment promoting services.

Capital income and other income that is taken into account in the means-testing have an income limit. You can have income up to the income limit without any effect on your benefit. The income limit for the means-testing is not the same as the exempt amount as regards wages and salaries. If you earn a wage or salary, you can receive adjusted unemployment benefit. The adjustment takes into account wages and salaries, while the means-testing takes into account all other income.

More on the impact of wages and salaries on the labour market subsidy.

Unemployed person living alone

If you live alone, the labour market subsidy is reduced by capital income and other income than wages and salaries that exceeds the income limit of EUR 311 per month. The full labour market subsidy is reduced by 75% of the income that exceeds the income limit.

Married or cohabiting person or parent of underage children

If you are married, cohabiting or in a registered partnership or the parent of underage children, the income limit is EUR 1,044 per month. The income limit is increased by EUR 130 for each dependent child. The full labour market subsidy is reduced by 50% of the income that exceeds the income limit.

If you receive other benefits, their amounts are usually directly deducted from the labour market subsidy you receive. If you receive a benefit that is paid out monthly, the daily amount of the benefit is calculated by dividing the benefit amount for the whole month by 21.5.

AnkkuriHow to apply for labour market subsidy

  1. Register with TE Services (tyomarkkinatori.fi) as an unemployed jobseeker. You cannot receive labour market subsidy unless you are registered as an unemployed jobseeker.
  2. Log in to the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) to apply for labour market subsidy.
  3. Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela. From the application you can check which documents you should enclose with the application.
  4. Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefits will be paid. You can also see possible reminders concerning, for instance, any documents missing from your application. You will also get a decision by post if you have not given up paper mail.

If you cannot file the application in the OmaKela e-service, complete and print out the application form for unemployment benefits TT 1e (pdf). Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

Log in to the OmaKela e-service to apply for labour market subsidy

Log in (in Finnish and Swedish)

What to remember when you apply for labour market subsidy

State the dates in the application starting from the first day of unemployment. File the first application after 7 days of unemployment so that the waiting period has been completed. The days from Monday to Friday are counted as days of unemployment.

After this you should file an unemployment status report for a period of 2 weeks in order to receive the first benefit payment. After that you should file an unemployment status report every 4 weeks.

You can only report days of unemployment in the application afterwards. Applications for labour market subsidy can be made retroactively for up to 3 months.

TE Services will send a labour policy statement to Kela. Kela needs the statement to be able to decide on your application.

Example of application period

Marko becomes unemployed on 5 February and registers immediately as a jobseeker with TE Services. His 7-day waiting period ends on 13 February, and so Marko applies for labour market subsidy in the OmaKela e-service on 14 February.

The first payment period of 2 weeks for Marko’s basic unemployment allowance is 14 February-27 February, so he can report his days of unemployment in the OmaKela e-service on 28 February. After that he files an unemployment status report every 4 weeks, i.e. the next time for the period from 28 February to 26 March.

Kela obtains information on wages and salaries from the national incomes register. Kela uses this data when processing claims and applications. We may ask for additional information, if necessary.

If you have received income from self-employment, dividend or rental income or significant interest income, Kela needs documentation on these.

Documents that you have sent to TE Services are not available to Kela.

AnkkuriReport changes that affect the labour market subsidy

If you receive labour market subsidy, report the following on the unemployment status report in the OmaKela e-service:

  • the number of hours and days that you have worked during the period of unemployment
  • birth of a child or other changes in family circumstances

Also report any changes in the incomes that are taken into account for the means-testing.

When you report the changes, the benefit is paid to the correct amount and you also do not lose any benefit due to you.

If you do not notify changes of the above type, you may be paid the benefit without grounds and forced to pay it back later on.

Do not forget to check how any changes in your circumstances will affect other benefits paid to you by Kela.

Do you still have questions?

Call Kela’s customer service.

020 634 2550
020 634 2550

What about other areas of your life?

  • Do you need help with housing costs?

    Housing allowance can compensate for reduced incomes and help with the housing costs. Read more about the types of costs for which you can get housing allowance.

  • Are you short of money?

    If you are unemployed, you may be really short of money. In that case, social assistance can help you get through the worst.

  • Did you fall ill?

    If you are ill, you should apply for sick leave and sickness allowance instead of unemployment benefit. That way, you do not use up the maximum of 400 days of basic unemployment allowance while on sick leave.

Last modified 15/3/2024