Partial care allowance

You can get partial care allowance if you work 1–30 hours a week while caring for your child.

Can I get partial care allowance?

You can get partial care allowance if you meet the following requirements:

• You are the child’s parent or other guardian.
• You are employed in the private or public sector or are self-employed and insured under the self-employed persons’ (YEL) or farmers’ (MYEL) pension scheme, and will remain so the entire time for which You are applying for partial care allowance.
• You work shorter days while caring for your child.
• You work 1–30 hours a week while caring for your child.
• Your child
  • is in the 1st or 2nd year of school
  • is in the 3rd year of school and has been issued a decision on support measures for their schooling due to a disability, medical condition or impaired functional capacity
  • attends preschool in the first year of their compulsory education because they have been issued a decision on early enrolment in compulsory education or because they start school one year later than normal.

All the hours you work as an employee or self-employed person or under a service contract count as your working hours. All of the weeks for which you apply for partial care allowance must include some time in work or equivalent activity. Periods of up to 4 weeks that you spend on paid leave, on sick leave, on strike or laid off do not affect your right to receive partial care allowance.

Partial care allowance can also be claimed by a non-custodial parent who looks after their child.

Partial child care leave is granted by the employer. You must therefore enter into an agreement on this with your employer before you can take the leave. You must notify your employer at least 2 months before you plan to take the leave.

How much partial care allowance can I get?

You must pay tax on the partial care allowance.

For what time can I get partial care allowance?

Care allowance can be paid starting from 1 August in the year when the child starts school. You can get partial care allowance until the end of the child’s 2nd year of school (31 July).

You can also get partial care allowance when the child attends preschool (1 August to 31 July) if the child has been issued a decision on early enrolment in compulsory education or if the child starts school one year later than normal. However, you can get partial care allowance only for the one year of preschool that is part of the child’s compulsory education.

Kela may also pay partial care allowance for the 3rd year of the child’s primary education (until 31 July) if the child has been issued a decision on support measures for their schooling due to a disability, medical condition or impaired functional capacity.

Partial care allowance is not paid for a shorter period than one month. The allowance period does not have to start from the beginning of the month.

How to apply for partial care allowance

You can apply for partial care allowance either on a form or in the OmaKela e-service. OmaKela is currently only available in Finnish and Swedish. Kela’s forms are also available in English.

Apply in OmaKela

1. Apply for partial care allowance in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).
   
   If the child's other parent also applies for partial care allowance, the parents must file separate applications.

2. Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela. From the application you can check which documents you should enclose with the application.

3. Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefits will be paid. You can also see possible reminders concerning, for instance, any documents missing from your application.

Apply on a form

1. Fill in and print out the form Partial care allowance WH 9e (pdf).

2. Enclose additional documents in support of the application as necessary. The application form includes information on which supporting documents you need.

3. Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

4. Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefit will be paid.

The decision notice is only in Finnish or Swedish. If you need help with something, you can call one of our English language customer service numbers.

Things to remember when you apply for partial care allowance

When is partial care allowance paid?

If you receive a decision on your application after the 10th day of the month, the allowance will not be paid until the last banking day of the following month. The decision shows the first payment date of the allowance.

Report changes that affect the partial care allowance

When you report the changes, the benefit is paid at the correct rate and you also do not lose any benefit due to you. Read more about reporting changes.

Tell Kela if

• your working hours change
• your contract of employment ends
• your insurance under the YEL or MYEL Act ends
• you spend at last one calendar week (Mon-Sun) on unpaid leave
• you are absent from work for a consecutive period of more than 4 weeks while on paid leave, on sick leave, on strike or laid off
• you move abroad
• you move to another municipality.

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.

Do not forget to check how any changes in your circumstances will affect other benefits that you receive from Kela.

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