Maternity allowance for about 4 months

You can start maternity leave 50 working days at the earliest and 30 working days at the latest before the estimated date of delivery. You can choose for yourself when you want to start maternity leave. Working days are weekdays from Monday to Saturday excluding weekday holidays.

When you start maternity leave, Kela will pay you maternity allowance for 105 working days, or about 4 months. If your employer pays you wages during maternity leave, your maternity allowance is paid to your employer.

You are eligible for maternity leave when your pregnancy has lasted 154 days on condition that you have been covered by the Finnish social security for at least 180 days just before the estimated date of delivery. This can also include insurance period from another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or Israel. If you are moving to Finland from abroad, further information is available in section Moving to Finland. If you have a termination, you are not eligible for maternity allowance even if the pregnancy had lasted 154 days.

If the child is born prematurely, you will receive maternity allowance immediately, starting from the next working day following the birth. Maternity allowance is usually paid for about 4 months, however, the period of parental allowance that is paid after maternity allowance will be longer than normal.

Working or studying during maternity leave

You can work during your maternity leave and receive maternity allowance from Kela, but you will receive a minimum-rate allowance from Kela for the days you are working (see Amount). For other days, you will receive the full-rate allowance. Working on Sundays will not affect the amount of your maternity allowance as it is paid for weekdays only.

You can notify your working days to Kela in the eServices (only in Finnish) using your online banking codes or by calling the customer service for families with children. It is not necessary to provide details of your income or Sunday work.

If you are a full-time student and receive student financial aid, you will be paid the minimum rate of maternity allowance along with the financial aid. If you are not receiving financial aid for students and you are not working, the maternity allowance will be paid in full in the usual way (see Amount).

If you start work or studies, please notify Kela about it with immediate effect. This way, Kela will be able to pay you the correct amount of maternity allowance and you will avoid any unnecessary repayments in the future.

If you are receiving early maternity allowance, you cannot work at all (except on Sundays as no allowance is paid for Sundays) nor study full time.

Mother's illness

If you become ill and cannot look after your child, in certain cases maternity allowance can be paid to the father as parental allowance. The father cannot receive the allowance until after the waiting period (usually the day when the person was taken ill plus 9 subsequent working days). Parental allowance paid to the father will not reduce the number of days you are entitled to parental allowance after the period of maternity allowance. Parental allowance paid to the father is calculated on the basis of his own income. You can calculate the amount of your allowance with the parental allowance calculator (only in Finnish).

Updated 03/05/13