Frequently asked questions about the general social security benefit

Who can get general social security benefit?

You may be able to get general social security benefit if you are unemployed and

• you are 18–64
• you are living in Finland on a permanent basis
• you have registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta)
• you do not qualify for earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha) or your unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa) has already paid you earnings-related unemployment allowance for the maximum number of days.

I am self-employed and the income I get from my business is very low (less than EUR 50 per month). Can I get general social security benefit even if I do not have YEL or MYEL insurance?

The employment authorities will check if you have the right to general social security benefit, and this includes self-employed persons with their own businesses.

If the employment authorities consider you to be self-employed on a full-time basis, you cannot get unemployment benefits while you are self-employed. If the employment authorities consider you to be self-employed on a part-time basis, you can get adjusted unemployment benefits while you are self-employed.

The amount of income you get from your business does not affect your right to get general social security benefit. The amount of work your business requires is the deciding factor when the employment authorities assess whether you are self-employed on a full-time or part-time basis.

Your general social security benefit will be adjusted to take into account the income you get from your business in the same way as it would be for wages or salary from paid employment. Your general social security benefit will be reduced by 50 cents for every 1 euro you earn.

Can Ukrainians with a residence permit granted on the basis of temporary protection get general social security benefit?

Until now, individuals staying in Finland with a temporary residence permit have qualified for basic unemployment allowance but not labour market subsidy.

Starting from 1 May, individuals staying in Finland with a temporary residence permit can get general social security benefit for a maximum of 400 days if they fulfil the work requirement (työssäoloehto), meaning that they worked long enough before they became unemployed.

Will Kela want to know about bank account transactions like it does now for social assistance? If assets do not affect the benefit, does that mean that I can accumulate assets while Kela pays me general social security benefit?

The general social security benefit is a means-tested benefit. This means that many types of income affect the general social security benefit, such as capital income, which means profit you get from your assets.

Your assets themselves do not have any effect on how much general social security benefit you can get.

Kela does not check any general social security benefit recipient’s bank account transactions. Kela primarily uses tax information and information you give to Kela to determine what income should be taken into account in the means test.

Kela only checks your own income. For example, your partner’s income does not have any effect on your general social security benefit.

Does a loan count as income? Can I borrow money without it counting as income?

Borrowing money from a friend or taking out a loan from a bank will not affect your general social security benefit.

Kela takes into account income you get regularly during your unemployment in the means test for the general social security benefit no matter where the income comes from or if it counts as taxable income.

Income that is taken into account in the means test includes, for example, capital income (such as dividends and rental income), informal caregiver’s fees and copyright royalties.

If I am unemployed and I sell a stamp collection, collectors’ items, clothes or other such items on Vinted as a private individual, will the money I get be considered income and will it reduce my general social security benefit?

If you sell for example clothes or other everyday items on an online marketplace, you will not make any profit unless your buyer pays you more for the items than you paid for them when you originally bought them yourself. If you do not make a profit, the income you get from online sales is not taken into account in the means test.

Even if you do make a profit on the items you sell, occasional profit from sales does not impact the means test.

In practice, selling goods via an online marketplace will only affect your general social security benefit if you regularly and consistently sell items at a profit. This may be the case if you actively sell things such as artworks or collectors’ items.

What if I get an inheritance or have to sell my house or apartment?

Incidental one-off income such as an inheritance or profit from the sale of your own house or apartment will not be taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit.

If I get a lot of capital income at once (for example EUR 20,000), will it impact my benefit for more than 1 month?

Capital income is usually taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit based on your tax information from the previous year. The amount you got is then divided by 12 and distributed evenly over the next year. Irregular profit from sales is not taken into account in the means test. If we need more information on the types of income you get that are taken into account in the means test, we will ask you for it.

How does Kela calculate the EUR 311 monthly limit for dividend income when general social security benefit is paid for a 4-week period that is not a month?

When Kela calculates your general social security benefit, we will first check your earned income (wages or salary) and/or income included in the means test. We then use that information to calculate a daily amount for your general social security benefit and multiply it by 20 for the payment period of 4 weeks.

This means that the monthly amount of income included in the means test we calculate for you is not applied directly across the 4-week payment period of the general social security benefit.

Do tax refunds reduce the amount of general social security benefit I can get? (Tax refunds are not taxable income)

Tax refunds do not reduce your general social security benefit.

If Kela discovers that I was paid too much general social security benefit because of my capital income, can I be subjected to other sanctions than the recovery of the benefits overpaid to me?

As a general rule, Kela will always recover overpaid benefits from their recipient regardless of why the benefits were overpaid to them. If Kela has paid you too much in benefits, Kela will send you a request for more information before issuing a decision on the recovery of the benefits.

If you get a request for more information from Kela, you can tell us in your reply why you think you were overpaid the benefits. You can also tell us, for example, about your income and expenses and any other factors that affect your ability to pay back the overpaid benefits.

Kela always evaluates each customer’s overall situation and may, in certain circumstances, reduce the amount to be recovered.

If Kela has paid you too much in benefits due to your own fraudulent conduct, Kela cannot waive recovery or reduce the amount to be recovered.

Situations involving fraudulent conduct may also count as benefit fraud. If Kela suspects that you have committed benefit fraud by not telling Kela about your capital income, Kela will ask you for a statement on the suspected benefit fraud. After that, Kela may decide to report your case to the police if Kela still suspects that your case may involve benefit fraud.

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I have heard that my partial early old-age pension will be taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit. Is that true?

The general social security benefit is a means-tested benefit. Under the Act on General Social Security Benefit, partial early old-age pension is one of the types of income taken into account in the means test and may reduce the amount of payable general social security benefit.

However, this has generated a lot of criticism because many unemployed persons had already started their partial early old-age pension before it became public knowledge that it may reduce the general social security benefit.

The Act on General Social Security Benefit may still be amended in terms of how partial early old-age pension impacts the benefit. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing a legislative amendment that applies to individuals who get partial early old-age pension at the time that the general social security benefit is introduced. Parliament is expected to decide on this matter during spring 2026.

Kela will monitor the situation and publish updates on any changes introduced to the Act on General Social Security Benefit on our Unemployment pages as soon as more information becomes available.

What happens if I get payments from a voluntary pension insurance policy while Kela pays me general social security benefit? Pensions are taxed as earned income. Will the means test apply to pensions, too? In that case, if the pension I get is under EUR 311 per month, it will not reduce my general social security benefit, right? Have I understood the instructions correctly?

A voluntary pension policy you have taken out yourself counts as a type of income that is taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit. If you get less than EUR 311 per month in income that is taken into account in the means test, it will not reduce your general social security benefit.

Will my surviving spouse’s pension affect my general social security benefit?

Surviving spouse’s pension counts as a type of income that is taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit. However, if you are paid an additional amount to your spouse’s pension under the National Pensions Act, the additional amount is not taken into account in the means test.

Will my housing allowance affect my general social security benefit?

General housing allowance does not affect how much general social security benefit you can get.

The following benefits also do not affect your general social security benefit:

• child benefit
• child maintenance allowance
• social assistance
• disability allowance.

Will my informal care allowance reduce the amount of my general social security benefit? If yes, by how much?

The general social security benefit is a means-tested benefit. Fees paid to informal caregivers count as a type of income that is taken into account in the means test.

If you get less than EUR 311 per month in income that is taken into account in the means test, it will not reduce your general social security benefit.

If you do exceed the limit of EUR 311 per month, 50% of the amount that exceeds the limit will be deducted from your general social security benefit.

For example, if you are paid EUR 511 per month in informal caregiver’s fees and you do not have any other income that impacts the means test, you exceed the income limit by EUR 200. In that case, your general social security benefit will be reduced by EUR 100.

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I occasionally work short jobs in the healthcare sector and the amount of work I do is different every month. How does Kela calculate my earned income?

Any wages or salary you earn, for example from part-time work, will reduce the amount of general social security benefit you can get. In that case, you can get adjusted general social security benefit.

This means that your general social security benefit is reduced in line with your wages or salary: the more you earn from work or self-employment, the smaller your general social security benefit will be. The basic rule is that your general social security benefit will be reduced by 50 cents for every 1 euro you earn in wages or salary.

Adjusted general social security benefit is paid during unemployment in periods of 4 weeks or 1 month. Your wages or salary will affect your general social security benefit in the 4-week or 1-month payment period during which your wages or salary are paid to you.

In other words, if you get more pay for your occasional short jobs during one benefit payment period than you usually would, you will get less general social security benefit during that period.

You must stay registered as a jobseeker with the employment services at all times during unemployment to qualify for the adjusted general social security benefit. Even if you work part time, you must look for a full-time job in accordance with the employment plan you have made together with the employment services.

How do salary payments, compensations, compensation for expenses or travel cost reimbursements affect my general social security benefit?

The amount of your general social security benefit is affected by all taxable earnings and income from self-employment. In addition to your wages or salary, other payments such as compensations, taxable compensations for expenses, fringe benefits, holiday bonuses and holiday compensations also count as income.

Your general social security benefit will be adjusted to account for these types of income in the same way as it would for wages or salary you get from paid employment.

Does the general social security benefit have an exempt amount?

No, it does not. The exempt amount that used to apply to unemployment benefits was removed in 2024.

Can Kela automatically get all salary and income information from somewhere or do customers have to submit it to Kela?

Kela will check if you have income that must be taken into account in the means test for the general social security benefit. You do not have to do anything or contact Kela.

Kela primarily uses tax information to see how much and what types of income (such as capital income) you have that must be taken into account in the means test. We will always contact you for more information if necessary.

Kela gets information on earned income (salary and wages) from the Incomes Register.

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Can I get general social security benefit if I am under 25 and I do not have a vocational qualification? Does completing upper secondary school (lukio) count?

If you have not completed a vocational qualification or a higher education degree or if you have graduated from upper secondary school, you must complete a qualifying period (odotusaika) before you can get general social security benefit. The qualifying period applies to jobseekers of all ages.

The qualifying period is 21 weeks, which is about 5 months. The qualifying period starts when

• you become unemployed and register as an unemployed jobseeker
• your full-time studies have ended and you register as an unemployed jobseeker
• you have completed a mandatory waiting period (karenssi) during which you were not paid unemployment benefits
• you have met the obligation to work (työssäolovelvoite).

You also have to apply for admission to education before you can qualify for the benefit. The same requirement applied to labour market subsidy.

If you are under 25, you have to apply for admission to at least 2 education programmes that begin in the autumn term. If you are invited to take an entrance exam, you must participate. Contact employment services to agree on applying for admission to education in more detail.

If you are under 18 and unemployed, you can be paid general social security benefit in these cases:

• You are 17 and you have completed a vocational qualification.
• You are 17, you have graduated from upper secondary school and you participate in employment-promoting services.

You cannot be paid the general social security benefit if you are under 17.

Will the application process change in some way?

You can apply for general social security benefit in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) or with a printable form as of 1 May 2026.

If I have been unemployed for a year now and I get labour market subsidy and I am still unemployed in May and beyond, will I have to apply for general social security benefit or will I start getting it directly without having to apply?

If Kela currently pays you labour market subsidy, continue to submit an unemployment status report in the OmaKela e-service every 4 weeks as before.

If you submit an unemployment status report for a 4-week period during which Kela starts paying general social security benefit, Kela will automatically transfer you to it. You do not need to contact Kela because of this change.

Will processing times and payment dates change after the benefit is introduced in May? (Compared to those that apply to existing unemployment benefits.)

The upcoming change will not affect processing times or payment dates. Kela pays general social security benefit retroactively for fixed payment periods during unemployment. The first payment period is 2 weeks and each payment period after that is 4 weeks.

Is there a time limit to the benefit?

Kela can continue to pay you general social security benefit for as long as you are unemployed. There is no time limit for how many days the benefit can be paid.

Will a qualifying period of 21 weeks (about 5 months) start for me on 1 May 2026 if I have not completed a vocational qualification but Kela has paid me labour market subsidy until then?

If Kela pays you labour market subsidy before 1 May 2026, you do not have to complete a new qualifying period (odotusaika) to get general social security benefit as long as you stay registered as an active jobseeker with the employment services.

Can I get general social security benefit during labour market training?

Yes, Kela can pay you both general social security benefit and compensation for expenses (EUR 9 per day) while you participate in labour market training. The same practice applies to existing unemployment benefits.

If I participate for example in a work try-out, can I get a higher amount of general social security benefit? This used to be the case with unemployment benefits before.  Can I also get EUR 9 in compensation for expenses?

The supplementary amounts to unemployment benefits that used to be paid during participation in employment-promoting services were removed on 1 January 2025.

You get the same amount of general social security benefit while participating in employment-promoting services that you would at other times during your unemployment. In addition, you may get EUR 9 per day in compensation for expenses.

However, if your general social security benefit has been reduced due to your parents’ income, you will get the full amount of the benefit while participating in employment-promoting services.

Similarly, if your general social security benefit has been reduced as a result of the means test, the reduction will not apply while you are participating in employment-promoting services.

How does general social security benefit affect the benefits I get while participating in rehabilitative work activity? Can I get compensation for expenses for the days I participate in the activity?

Nothing will change for you. You can get both general social security benefit and compensation for expenses while you are participating in rehabilitative work activity.

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Can Kela reduce my general social security benefit if I break the rules? This is now the case with the basic amount of basic social assistance.

Kela does not make any reductions to general social security benefit like it does to social assistance.

However, you may be subjected to a mandatory waiting period (karenssi) for unemployment benefits or an obligation to work (työssäolovelvoite) if, for example, you do not look for work, if you do not do the tasks you have agreed on with the employment services or if you decide to quit your job without a valid reason. 

Mandatory waiting periods are periods of time during which you will not be paid any unemployment benefits. If you are subjected to an obligation to work, it means that you lose your unemployment benefits for the time being until you have worked or participated in employment-promoting services for at least 6 weeks.

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