Can you get social assistance?
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Social assistance is paid as a last resort
Social assistance (toimeentulotuki in Finnish) can be paid to a person or a family who is resident in Finland and whose income and assets do not cover their essential daily expenses.
Social assistance is meant to be a source of short-term financial aid that helps you overcome or avoid temporary difficulties and promotes your autonomy and independence.
Apply for other benefits first
Social assistance is granted as a last resort. This means that you must do everything you can to support your family and yourself and first apply for all other benefits that you may have the right to. These are called primary benefits (ensisijaiset tuet). Examples of primary benefits include unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki) and housing allowance (asumistuki). The maintenance provided by the parent liable for the maintenance of a child is also a primary source of income in relation to social assistance.
However, we can grant social assistance to you as an advance against a benefit that you are expected to get if
- you have applied for another benefit but you have not yet received a decision on your application
- you have not yet applied for any other benefit.
Social assistance is granted to a family as a whole
The application is usually made by one family member on behalf of the whole family. The amount of social assistance depends on the income and assets as well as expenses of all family members. A fixed basic amount is calculated for each family member.
In the calculation of social assistance, adult children are not considered to be part of their parents' family even if they live in the same home. An adult living with their parents must apply for social assistance separately. Their income, assets and expenses do not affect the social assistance of the other family members.
In the calculation of social assistance, a child who is under 18 years old is considered to be a part of their parents’ family. However, the income of a child under 18 does not affect the family’s social assistance if the income is low and irregular. As an example, a child’s earnings from a summer job lasting less than 3 months do not affect the family’s social assistance.
Parents are responsible for the maintenance of their children until the children reach the age of 18 years. Children under 18 can apply for social assistance separately if they live away from their parents. However, Kela checks the income and assets of their parents and evaluates the parents’ ability to provide maintenance for their children. If the person responsible for the child’s maintenance has deliberately neglected their responsibility, the social assistance or part of it can be recovered from the person liable for maintenance.
Persons sharing a house or apartment may form a communal household without being a family. If they do not constitute a family they must apply for assistance separately. For example, when adult siblings or friends live in the same house or apartment, each of them counts as a separate family. This means that each of them should apply for social assistance separately. We will consider their income, assets and expenses separately from the other people who live at the same address.
For persons living in a communal household, the basic amount of social assistance is the equivalent of 85 per cent of the basic amount for a person living alone. The reason for this is that living expenses per person in a communal household are generally lower than the living expenses of someone living alone.
Social assistance in different life situations
Find out more about how your circumstances affect your eligibility for social assistance and what you should keep in mind when you apply for it.
If you are 18–65 years old and you are unemployed, register as a jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta) before you apply for social assistance. This obligation also applies to 17-year-olds who have completed their compulsory education.
Register as a jobseeker at Job Market Finland (tyomarkkinatori.fi/en).
Find out if you can get unemployment benefits from your unemployment fund or from Kela.
If you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki) without registering with the employment services first, we may have to reduce the basic amount (perusosa) of the social assistance by 50 %.
You do not need to register with the employment services and Kela will not cut your basic amount if
- you work at least 30 hours per week for an employer (paid employment)
- you are self-employed or independently employed and the amount of monthly income you get from your business or work is at least the same amount as labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki)
- you study full-time and you use the primary benefits for students, such as student financial aid (opintotuki) and a student loan, to support yourself during your studies
- you are unable to work and you get one of the following:
- sickness allowance or partial sickness allowance
- disability pension
- rehabilitation subsidy or a benefit paid to you based on full incapacity for work
- you are paid an old-age pension or early old-age pension
- you have the right to pregnancy allowance or you are paid special pregnancy allowance, parental allowance or special care allowance, or you have been granted leave on account of pregnancy, childbirth or child care
- you are paid farm closure compensation
- you get rehabilitation allowance or compensation for loss of income on account of rehabilitation
- you are paid a years-of-service pension under the legislation on earnings-related pensions
- you cannot accept work because you are in institutional care
- you care for a child under the age of 3 at home and you get child home care allowance
- you serve as a family caregiver for at least 4 hours a day
- you serve as an informal caregiver for at least 4 hours a day
- you are in military or non-military service
- you cannot accept work for some other reason that is similar to the reasons listed above.
Always check if there are other sources of income or benefits available to you before you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki). These could be, for example,
- a study grant and student loan
- housing supplement for students
- general housing allowance, in certain circumstances (for example if you have a child who lives with you in the same house or apartment)
- sickness allowance
- rehabilitation allowance.
If you do not qualify for student financial aid (opintotuki) or any other benefits, you must first try to find some other source of income that is not social assistance (such as working for over 30 hours per week in paid employment). During the summer months, you are expected to work, actively look for work or study and apply for student financial aid for the summer.
Apply for a student loan before you apply for social assistance
If you qualify for a student loan, we will take the amount of the student loan that you qualify for into account as your income even if you do not apply for a student loan or a government loan guarantee. If the bank does not grant you a student loan, ask the bank to issue a statement saying that you cannot get a student loan and submit it to us.
Reducing the basic amount for a student
Financial aid for students, the student housing supplement and a student loan are usually the primary benefits for a full-time student. If you cannot get any of those benefits, you will have to earn a living in some other way, such as paid employment. Working for at least 30 hours a week is considered to give you enough income to support yourself.
If you cannot support yourself in any of these ways and you apply for social assistance, you have to register as a jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services and apply for unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki). This usually means that you will have to stop your studies. If you go back to school while you are still unable to support yourself in any of the ways listed above and you apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce your basic amount.
If you are studying for your first vocational qualification and Kela has paid you student financial aid for the maximum aid period, you can apply to be paid social assistance for 3 months if necessary. After that, Kela may pay you social assistance for another 3 months if you submit a statement on how your studies are progressing and when you will graduate. The basic amount of the social assistance is not reduced in these situations.
Before you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki) from Kela, check if you have the right to any of the primary benefits (ensisijaiset tuet) for self-employed persons. Such primary benefits include start-up grants for newly self-employed persons and unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki) for those who are self-employed on a part-time basis.
Read about unemployment benefits for self-employed persons.
The purpose of social assistance is not to cover business risk or business expenses.
If you are self-employed and apply for social assistance, we will check how much income you make from your business. Fill in and submit the form Statement of self-employment income TO 4e (pdf) with your application.
If you are self-employed, you must earn at least about EUR 595 per month from your business. This is the same amount as labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki). If you do not earn this much, Kela will consider your business to be unprofitable and give you one month to either make your business profitable or close it down. After that, you have to register as an unemployed jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta) and apply for unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki) first before applying for social assistance (toimeentulotuki).
This also applies to independently employed persons, such as freelancers, professional athletes and social media influencers.
If you do not register with the employment services within one month of Kela telling you to do so, we may have to reduce (cut) the basic amount (perusosa) of your social assistance by 50% starting from the next month until you register as a jobseeker and apply for unemployment benefits.
If you choose to continue your unprofitable business and apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce the basic amount of your social assistance.
You can receive social assistance for some of the client fees for housing services, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county.
Communal living and in-home services
If you live in communal housing organised by the wellbeing services county or you receive services from the wellbeing services county in your home, you will pay a monthly fee for these. In addition to you monthly fee, you may have other expenses, such as user fees for public healthcare. We can grant social assistance to cover some of these fees, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county. Ask your wellbeing services county for more information about payment waivers.
Out of the services provided in your home, you can receive social assistance for home care bills and security services. You may also be paying for support services such as meals and cleaning. However, you cannot get social assistance separately for these, because expenses for food and household cleanliness are considered part of the basic amount of social assistance.
If you live in communal housing, you can receive social assistance for your housing expenditure and for expenditure related to daily care and healthcare, such as help with personal hygiene and visits to the sauna.
If you apply for social assistance, send with your application a copy of the decision you have received concerning service charges and user fees. If the decision on user fees does not itemise the services you receive, you must also enclose information showing how much you are paying for each separate service. Give the information in euros or as percentages.
Around-the-clock assisted living
If you live in long-term around-the-clock assisted living provided by the wellbeing services county, you will pay an income-based user fee. The user fee covers all the services you receive, such as meals.
After payment of the user fee, you will be left with a disposable income of a minimum of EUR 182 per month. This is intended for expenses such as clothing, telephone bills, personal hygiene, out-of-pocket charges for transport services, and other costs that are not included in the service you receive.
You can receive social assistance for expenses such as bills for dental care provided within the public healthcare system or for travel costs in connection with public healthcare services. You can also receive social assistance for any housing costs for your around-the-clock assisted living that have not been deducted in the decision on the user fee. However, you cannot get social assistance for housing costs that have been deducted in full in the decision on the user fee.
If you apply for social assistance, we will take into account as income the amount reserved for your personal use, which is a minimum of EUR 182 per month. You can see the exact amount in the decision on the user fee. The amount of social assistance is also affected by any income and assets you have that have not been taken into account in the decision on the user fee. The basic amount of your social assistance is the equivalent of EUR 182, which is the minimum disposable income in around-the-clock assisted living.
Before applying for social assistance from Kela, find out if you are entitled to a conscript’s allowance.
You can get social assistance towards expenses that are not covered by the conscript’s allowance. This includes expenses such as home insurance. You generally cannot get social assistance for other expenses during your time in service, because you get a daily allowance from your place of service and you also get free lodging, food, healthcare and clothes.
Everyone living in Finland has a duty to provide for themselves.
If necessary, we will assess individually for each applicant whether their stay in Finland is temporary or permanent.
Individuals and families who are permanently resident in Finland
Individuals and families residing permanently in Finland can get social assistance if their available income and assets do not cover their necessary expenses such as food and housing. For purposes of social assistance, income also includes any income and assets they have from outside Finland.
Read more about how income and assets affect social assistance
Individuals and families who are temporarily resident in Finland
If you reside in Finland temporarily, you must first find out if you can get help with your finances and your return home from some other source than Kela. Other possible sources of help include, for instance, money transfers from friends or family, your insurance policy or the diplomatic mission of your home country.
However, anyone staying in Finland, even temporarily, has a right to emergency support to secure their essential means of subsistence and care. If your situation is urgent, you can get a voucher from Kela for necessities such as food and necessary prescription medicines. The social services of the wellbeing services county assist with finding temporary emergency lodging.
If you are in urgent need of social assistance, call Kela’s customer service number 020 634 2550 or visit a Kela service point.
Asylum seekers
If you are an asylum seeker receiving immigrant reception services, you cannot get social assistance. The reason for this is that the Finnish Government secures your livelihood and provides other services in the form of immigrant reception services.
Persons fleeing the war in Ukraine
Read about social assistance for those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Current topics
Thinking of applying for social assistance? Check these things first
Before applying for social assistance, you should check on the things that may stop you from getting it. These tips will help you make sure that your application can be processed without delay. Checking these things in advance will also help you avoid disappointment over a refused application.