Benefits for self-employed persons with low income

As a self-employed person, you can apply for housing allowance and social assistance from Kela if your income is low. In addition to the self-employed person’s own income, the income of other persons living in the same household may affect these benefits. The easiest way to apply for benefits for yourself is to use the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish).

Self-employed persons can apply for general housing allowance

1. Kela can pay general housing allowance (yleinen asumistuki) to low-income households to help them meet their housing costs.

   • Use our benefit calculator to check if your household qualifies for housing allowance.
2. The allowance is affected by the combined gross income of all household members. This means their income before taxes.

   • Kela estimates the amount of self-employment income based on each self-employed person’s earned income under the self-employed persons’ (YEL) or farmers’ (MYEL) pension insurance scheme. If you do not have YEL or MYEL insurance, the estimate of your income will be based on your start-up grant, minimum income, wages or salary, or your own estimate of your income. Minimum income means an income that is the same amount as the general social security benefit (yleistuki) (about EUR 800 per month in 2026). You do not have to submit financial statement data to Kela.
3. Learn more about how to apply for general housing allowance and how much you can get.

Apply for other Kela benefits before you apply for social assistance

1. Before you apply for basic social assistance, you should find out if you are eligible for other Kela benefits.
2. Social assistance is affected by all the net incomes and assets of the family and the company. Social assistance can be granted to cover necessary daily expenses.
3. If you apply for social assistance, Kela will perform a profitability analysis on your business.
4. Read about how to apply for social assistance and what supporting documentation you must submit. You must provide information on your income on a separate form.

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