Special circumstances

If the parents want to give their child up for adoption, they can contact the social welfare office of their home municipality or Save the Children. A birthing parent can get pregnancy and parental allowance for a continuous period of at least 105 working days, if the parent is not working. The family should notify Kela about the adoption in order to avoid being paid too much allowance, which, if that should happen, they will later have to pay back.

If a child is taken into custody or is placed in emergency institutional or foster care, the parent can get parental allowance only if he or she is taking care of the child. Such a situation may arise for example when a child is on home leave.

A birthing parent can get pregnancy and parental allowance for a continuous period of at least 105 working days, if the parent is not working.

Social services will notify Kela if a child is taken into custody or put into emergency placement as well as report whether the parent is participating in the care of the child.

If one of the child’s parents is taken seriously ill or becomes disabled so that he or she is unable to care for the child, all unused parental allowance days are transferred to the other parent. The illness or injury must be of such a long duration that it is not expected to improve by the time the child reaches the age of 2.

If a child is stillborn or dies at birth or soon thereafter, the birthing parent can get pregnancy allowance and parental allowance for a consecutive period of 105 working days. One prerequisite for entitlement to the benefit is that the pregnancy had lasted at least 154 days (22 weeks of pregnancy).

The entitlement of the child’s other parent to parental allowance can start from the date of death of the child. The other parent can receive parental allowance for a total of 25 days (date of death + 24 working days).

If a child dies later but under the age of 2, both parents can get parental allowance. You can get parental allowance for 24 working days from the day following the death of the child, if there are a sufficient number of days of parental allowance left.

The parents can take out all 24 parental allowance days at the same time, even if they have already used all the days that they are otherwise allowed to take out at the same time.

The parent must stay off work in order to receive parental allowance.

If a parent dies before the child turns 2, the other parent or another person who is caring for the child can get parental allowance. Parental allowance can be paid for as many days as there are days left unused by the deceased parent.

The person taking care of the child does not have to be the legal guardian of the child.

The child’s other parent or another person who is caring for the child can apply for child benefit for himself/herself and get a single-parent supplement if he/she is not married or cohabiting.

In addition, orphan’s pension will offer financial security for the child, if one or both of the parents die. Surviving spouse's pension provides financial security to widows and widowers. A widow/widower or a child may also be entitled to survivors’ pension or assistance pension under an accident, motor third party, military accident or patient insurance policy.

If a child’s parent has been sentenced to prison, the other parent has the right to use the days of parental allowance left unused by the parent who is in prison.

A condition for this is that the prison sentence does not end before the child reaches the age of 2.