Kela has published the 2023 editions of the benefit brochures
Updated 2023 editions of Kela’s plain-language benefit brochures have now been published. The plain-language brochures present Kela’s various benefits in a plain and easily understandable language. Kela’s partners can order copies of the brochures for themselves.
Once per calendar year, Kela publishes eight benefit brochures written in plain, easy-to-read language. Out of these, seven have now been published in Finnish and Swedish. The Sámi, English and Russian language versions of the brochures have also been updated.
The brochures that have been published are:
- Pensions and retirement
- Families with children
- Health and rehabilitation
- Social assistance
- Unemployment
- Moving to or from Finland
- General housing allowance.
The brochure concerning benefits for students and conscripts is being updated for the academic year 2023–2024 and will be published later in the spring.
The brochures contain updated benefit amounts and other changes to benefits in 2023. In connection with the update, the brochures have received a slightly revamped look and the visual language has been streamlined even further.
The Finnish and Swedish language brochures are updated annually alongside the Sámi language versions. The brochures are available in all of the Sámi languages spoken in Finland, that is to say, in North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. The English and Russian language brochures are updated every two years.
Partners can order copies of the brochures from Kela
The plain-language brochures are available at Kela customer service points and Citizen Service Points. Kela sends plain-language brochures in Finnish and Swedish not only to Kela’s own service points but also to, for example, social services offices, TE Offices and maternity and child health clinics.
Partners can order copies of the plain-language brochures and their different language versions, as well as other printed Kela brochures, from lomakevarasto@kela.fi. The minimum order is 10 copies/shipment.
Benefit brochures in Sámi can be ordered from saame@kela.fi. When ordering Sámi-language brochures, the minimum order quantity requirement can be waived and a smaller number of copies can be shipped out.
The plain-language brochures are also available online
PDF versions of Kela’s brochures and information leaflets are available at kela.fi. The online versions of the brochures have been designed with accessibility requirements in mind, so they are easy to browse with a screen reader.
The content of the plain-language brochures is also available on Kela’s website in Finnish, Swedish, North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi.
Plain language can be its own form of language called Easy Language
Selkokeskus, The Finnish Centre for Easy Language, has granted the Finnish language versions of the plain-language brochures the SELKO symbol. The Swedish language versions have been granted the same symbol by the Swedish-speaking centre for Easy to Read in Finland, the LL-Center. The SELKO symbol is granted to Easy Language publications in Finnish and Swedish. Easy Finnish is a form of Finnish where the content, vocabulary and sentence structures have been simplified in order to make the text easier to understand.
Easy Language publications are useful especially for
- persons who have memory disorders, reading disorders or learning disorders
- persons with developmental disabilities
- persons whose first language is neither Finnish nor Swedish.
There are no separate standard-language brochures, since the plain-language brochures can be used by everyone. Plain language is suitable for everyone and anyone can be in need of plain-language texts at some point of their lives. A source text written in plain language is also a good starting point for translations.