How to claim child home care allowance

1. Use the OmaKela e-service to claim child home care allowance. Please note that our e-service is only available in Finnish and Swedish. If needed, you can exit the application at any time and return to it later. All data you enter is saved automatically.

   • Child home care allowance can be claimed by the parent or other legal guardian who primarily looks after the child at home. If both parents are primary caregivers, they must agree between themselves who is to file the claim.
   • The primary caregiver can also be someone else, such as a grandparent. The name of the caregiver must be stated separately in the application. The allowance must, however, always be claimed by a parent or by another legal guardian, even if the caregiver is another person.
2. Once you have completed the claim, the summary page lists the necessary supporting documentation. Scan or take a photo of any supporting documents and send them through OmaKela
3. If you claim care supplement, you must also fill in your family's gross income.

   • Kela gets salary and benefit information directly from the national income register and from benefit payers. Kela uses this data when processing claims and applications. You will be contacted if additional information is required.

   • You will be asked to provide supporting documentation with the claim. For example, if you are self-employed, you will be asked to provide details of your income on the Y 8 form (PDF) as well as any additional documents specified in the claim.

4. Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your claim has been decided, how much you will get and when you will be paid. You can also see possible reminders concerning, for instance, any documents missing from your claim. A written decision on your claim will be sent to you by post..

Alternatively, you can complete and print out a PDF-format application for child home care allowance and private day care allowance (form WH 1e, PDF). Send your application by post along with the supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

If you live in the Åland Islands you should claim child home care allowance from your municipality of residence.

When to claim

Child home care allowance should be claimed well before payment of the parental allowance ends. The right to child home care allowance starts right after the period of parental allowance even if you take your annual holiday. The allowance is available retrospectively for a maximum of 6 months from the date of the claim.

Don’t forget

You can claim the allowance also for a fixed period of time. If you do not indicate any end date for payment of the child home care allowance in the claim, the allowance is granted until the youngest child reaches the age of 3 years.

If you wish to end the payment of the allowance, you can do that in OmaKela. You can also contact Kela by phone.

Remember to report all changes in your circumstances in regard to the child home care allowance to Kela so that the benefit can be paid correctly.

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