Basic unemployment allowance is paid to the amount of
EUR 37.21 per day
Basic unemployment allowance
On this page
Basic unemployment allowance (peruspäiväraha) is an unemployment benefit paid by Kela. If you are a member of an unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa), you can get earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha).
Can I get unemployment allowance?
If you become unemployed, you can get basic unemployment allowance if
- you are 18–64
- you live in Finland
- you have registered with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta) at Job Market Finland (tyomarkkinatori.fi)
- you have registered with the employment services of your municipality of residence as a jobseeker (tyomarkkinatori.fi)
- you can accept offers of full-time work
- you meet the work requirement for wage-earners or self-employed persons.
How much is the basic unemployment allowance?
Basic unemployment allowance is paid for 5 working days per week (including mid-week holidays). You must pay tax on the basic unemployment allowance.
If you get wages or salary for example from part-time work, your wages or salary will reduce the amount of basic unemployment allowance you can get. In that case, you can get adjusted basic unemployment allowance.
Benefits that reduce the basic unemployment allowance
If you get other benefits, their amounts are usually directly deducted from your basic unemployment allowance. If a benefit you get is paid to you monthly, the daily amount of the benefit is calculated by dividing the amount of the benefit for the whole month by 21.5.
(kotihoidon tuki). Your child home care allowance will be deducted from your basic unemployment allowance.
Child home care allowance that is paid to your partner will also be deducted from your basic unemployment allowance if your partner
- regularly works part time
- is studying
- gets income from their own business.
Your partner’s child home care allowance can be deducted from your basic unemployment allowance because child home care allowance is granted to the family as a unit. Even if the benefit is paid to your partner, the benefit is also considered as yours.
However, any child home care allowance paid to your partner will not be deducted from your basic unemployment allowance if
- your partner is also unemployed and the child home care allowance is paid to them
- your partner cares for the child on a full-time basis and does not qualify for unemployment benefits as a result
- your partner gets daily allowances for parents (vanhempainpäiväraha) in addition to child home care allowance.
The following benefits do not affect the amount of unemployment benefits you can get:
- child benefit
- child support payments or child maintenance allowance
- general housing allowance or housing allowance for pensioners
- social assistance
- care allowance for pensioners or disability allowance
- disability indemnity under the Employment Accidents Insurance Act or conscript’s allowance
- life annuity or supplemental annuity under the Military Injuries Act.
Estimate how much you can get
Use our calculator to check how much basic unemployment allowance you might get. The result is an estimate.
For how long can you receive basic unemployment allowance?
Basic unemployment allowance (peruspäiväraha) has a waiting period (omavastuuaika) of 7 working days. You cannot be paid basic unemployment allowance during that time. The waiting period starts on the day you register as unemployed. Kela can pay basic unemployment allowance for a maximum period of 400 working days. If you have worked for less than 3 years, you can get basic unemployment allowance for a maximum of 300 working days.
If you fulfil the work requirement after you have reached the age of 58, you can get basic unemployment allowance for a maximum of 500 working days. Read more about the entitlement criteria for unemployment benefit for ageing unemployed.
You can track your progress towards the maximum payment period in the OmaKela e-service.
The waiting period of 7 working days that applies to basic unemployment allowance starts over again at the beginning of each maximum payment period of 400 working days. However, you have to complete the waiting period only once a year at maximum.
After basic unemployment allowance, you can get general social security benefit if you meet the criteria for the benefit. When the maximum payment period for basic unemployment allowance is about to be completed, we will automatically ask you for the information we need to decide if you can get the general social security benefit.
If you are unemployed, close to retirement age and you meet the work requirement, you can receive basic unemployment allowance for additional days and enter the so-called unemployment pathway to retirement. The additional days are only available to recipients of basic unemployment allowance for employees but not for entrepreneurs or self-employed persons.
You are entitled to additional days of basic unemployment allowance if you before reaching the maximum of 500 days of unemployment allowance have reached the age of
- 61 years and were born in 1957-1960
- 62 years and were born in 1961-1962
- 63 years and were born in 1963
- 64 years and were born in 1964.
Granting of the additional days also requires that you have completed at least 5 years of employment during the previous 20 years. The extended payment of basic unemployment allowance will continue until the end of the calendar month in which you reach the age of 65. After this you can receive a pension.
Persons born in 1965 or later can no longer be granted additional days of basic unemployment allowance.
Report changes that affect the basic unemployment allowance
If you receive basic unemployment allowance, you have to inform Kela if
- you work during the period of unemployment
- a child is born to your family or there are other changes in your family circumstances
In this way, the benefit is paid to the correct amount and you also do not lose any benefit due to you. Read how to report changes in OmaKela.
If you do not report changes, you may be paid benefits you are not entitled to. In that case, the benefit will be recovered from you later. Read more about the recovery of overpaid benefits.