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Maternity grant

The purpose of the maternity grant is to support the care of the child. You can choose to take the maternity grant either as

  • a cash benefit
  • a maternity package.

The maternity grant is free from tax.

Can you get maternity grant?

The condition for getting maternity grant is that you have undergone a medical examination by a doctor or at a maternity and child health clinic before the end of the fourth month of pregnancy, i.e. no later than the 18th week of pregnancy.

You can apply for maternity grant after 154 days of pregnancy (about 5 months). You must also get a certificate from a doctor or a maternity and child health clinic showing how many weeks you are pregnant. Include the certificate with your application.

You should apply for maternity grant no later than two months before the expected date of birth of the child.

You can get the maternity grant if you are permanently resident in Finland. If you have moved from another EU or EEA country or from Switzerland to Finland in order to work here or if you are a family member of a person who has moved to Finland in order to work here, you may also be entitled to the maternity grant. In such a case, you must also be covered by the Finnish social security system.

Maternity grant (cash benefit)

You can take the maternity grant as a one-off tax-exempt cash benefit.

The amount of maternity grant is EUR 170.

The cash benefit can be a suitable and responsible choice for instance if you have previously received the maternity package and you still have the items.

Maternity package

You can choose to take the maternity grant as a maternity package. The package includes baby clothes and baby care items.

Learn more about the maternity packages:

The maternity package is not commercially available. It is available solely as a benefit offered under the Finnish social security system. The items it contains are sourced through a competitive bidding process complying with EU law.

The package is updated yearly in response to feedback from clients. While the range of items remains largely the same from year to year, the colours and patterns change, and some completely new items are added as well.

Maternity package 2024

Deliveries of the new edition will begin when existing stocks run out. The exact date of the switchover to the new edition depends on the number of claims that come in.

 

Diverse families

If the child you are adopting is under 18, you are entitled to maternity grant. You can choose to have a maternity package or a tax-free lump sum of EUR 170 as maternity grant.

If you are adopting several children at the same time, the number of maternity grants that you are entitled to will increase. If, for example, you are adopting 2 children you will receive 3 maternity grants. To qualify for the maternity grant, you must be living in Finland permanently and the provider of adoption services must have identified a specific child for placement in your custody.

You must claim maternity grant within 2 months from the date on which the child was placed in your custody. You can claim the maternity grant as soon as the child has been identified for placement with you.

Multiple-birth families get additional maternity grants. If you give birth to 2 or more children at the same time, you will get the standard maternity grant multiplied by two for your second child, the standard maternity grant multiplied by three for your third child, etc. This means that for twins, you will receive three times the maternity grant, for triplets, six times the maternity grant, and so on.

You can choose how you wish to take out each maternity grant: in cash or as a maternity package, in whatever combination you want. For example, if you have twins, you can choose to have two maternity packages and one cash payment.

Family structure does not affect the maternity grant.

Family structure does not affect the maternity grant.

Family structure does not affect the maternity grant.

Last modified 15/2/2024