Annual income – due date before 4 September 2022
The information on this page applies to your family if:
- the estimated due date of your baby was before 4 September 2022
- you adopted a child and the child was placed in your care on or before 30 July 2022.
Maternity allowance, special maternity allowance and parental allowance can no longer be applied for. Paternity allowance can still be applied for.
The daily allowances for parents is determined on the basis of an annual income. The annual income is calculated for a reference period of 12 calendar months prior to the calendar month that precedes the start of the entitlement to daily allowances for parents.
Wage/salary
The annual income includes wages and salaries that have been paid during the reference period. Kela usually receives information on wages and salaries from the national incomes register, so this information need not be reported to Kela separately.
Employers must report the details of earned income paid to the Incomes Register within five days of payment. You can view the information reported by the employer at https://www.vero.fi/en/incomes-register/. Log in by using your online banking user ID and password or a mobile certificate.
If you think that there are mistakes in your income data or if there is information missing, you need to ask your employer to correct the data in the Income Register. You cannot correct the information in the Income Register yourself.
Example
Maija’s entitlement to maternity allowance starts 14 April 2022. The reference period is 1 March 2021–28.2.2022. During this period, Maija has received EUR 2,500 per month in wages (before taxes) and EUR 1,125 in holiday bonus (before taxes).
The annual income includes 12 months x EUR 2,500 + EUR 1,125 = EUR 31,125.*
The amount of the maternity allowance is approximately EUR 65 per working day.
The amount of the maternity allowance is approximately EUR 84 per working day for the first 56 days of payment.
*) Insurance contributions are deducted from the annual income. In 2021 the deduction is 9.83 %.
Salary for insurance purposes
If you have been working abroad during the reference period and a salary for insurance purposes has been determined for this period of employment, the salary for insurance purposes will be taken into account in the annual income instead of the salary actually paid.
Income under the self-employed persons' (YEL) and farmers' (MYEL) pension insurance schemes
The annual income for self-employed persons includes the confirmed income under the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL) or the Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL) for the 12-month reference period.
The annual income does not include wage income from one’s own company or income from self-employment. If the confirmed income under the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL) or the Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL) has changed during the reference period, the average confirmed income is used.
Example
Liisa’s entitlement to maternity allowance starts 15 February 2022. The reference period is 1 January–31 December 2021. The YEL income is EUR 20,000 per year.
The annual income includes the YEL income.
The amount of the maternity allowance is approximately EUR 47 per working day.*
The amount of the maternity allowance is approximately EUR 60 per working day* for the first 56 days of payment.
*) Estimate
Part-time self-employed
If you are self-employed on a part-time basis (meaning that you are both self-employed and working for another employer), both your salary income and the insurable income under the YEL or MYEL insurance are taken into account when calculating your allowance.
Maternity, paternity and parental allowance for grant and scholarship recipients
If you have a research or arts grant or scholarship and have MYEL insurance with the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution (Mela) based on the grant or scholarship, your maternity, paternity or parental allowance is calculated on the basis of your annual income under the MYEL insurance.
If you are not required to take out a MYEL insurance based on your grant or scholarship, the grant or scholarship is not calculated as part of your annual income.
Benefit-based income
Your annual income can also be calculated on the basis of certain benefits you may receive. This is referred to as benefit-based income and is calculated on the basis of the average daily amount of certain benefits you have received in the 12-month reference period.
When calculating benefit-based income
- the average daily amount of the benefits is calculated from which
- a benefit-based annual income is calculated which is
- proportioned as part of the annual income according to the time period for which the benefits are awarded.
The benefit-based income only includes the following benefits when the period of award falls within the 12-month reference period:
- unemployment benefit
- job alternation compensation
- sickness allowance
- daily allowance in accordance with the self-employed persons’ pension (YEL) scheme or sickness allowance paid by the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution (Mela)
- partial sickness allowance
- maternity, paternity and parental allowances
- special care allowances
- sickness allowance on account of human cell, tissue and organ donation
- rehabilitation allowance from Kela
- rehabilitation allowance or rehabilitation increase provided under the earnings-related pension acts
- disability pension provided under the earnings-related pension acts
- disability pension provided under the National Pensions Act
- guarantee pension as supplement to disability pension
- adult education subsidy
- adjustment pension or adjustment allowance for Members of Parliament
- study grant.
Benefits paid to the employer are not included in the annual income. Your wages for the same period are included in the annual income.
Example
Pekka’s entitlement to paternity allowance starts 15 February 2022. The reference period is 1 January–31 December 2021. Pekka has received EUR 60.00 per day for 5 days per week in earnings-related unemployment allowance during this period.
Based on the average earnings-related allowance, the paternity allowance is approximately EUR 52 per day*. Paternity allowance is paid for 6 days a week.
*) Estimate
Compensations for loss of income included in the annual income
Compensations for loss of income awarded during the reference period are included in the annual income if the compensation is based on one of the following:
- accident at work
- occupational disease
- traffic accident
- patient injury
- military injury
- communicable disease under the Act on Communicable Diseases (sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease).
Compensations for loss of income are taken into account to the amount awarded.
The compensation is usually not included in the annual income if payment continues alongside a Kela benefit awarded for the same period. Compensations paid to the employer are not included in the annual income because you have for the same period received wages that are included in the annual income.