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Paternity allowance – 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.

Click here for further information on daily allowances for parents when the estimated due date of the baby was on or after 4 September 2022.

The paternity leave can last up to 54 working days or about 9 weeks. Fathers can choose to stay at home for 1 to 18 days at the same time as the child's mother while she is paid maternity or parental allowance. The rest of the paternity leave can be taken in a maximum of 2 separate periods after the parental allowance has ended.

If more than one child is born or adopted at a time, the paternity allowance period is extended by 18 working days for each child that is born or adopted at the same time. For two children the paternity allowance period can be 72 working days, for three children 90 working days, and for four or more children 105 working days. One requirement for entitlement to an extension of the paternity allowance period is that the mother’s parental allowance period starts or the adopted children have been placed in the care of the adoptive parents on or after 1 April 2019.

Example

The father of twins can take 1–36 days of paternity leave during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period and the rest of the days in a maximum of two separate periods after that. If the father of twins takes 18 days of paternity leave per child during the mother's maternity and parental allowance period, i.e. a total of 36 days, he can take the remaining 36 days in a maximum of two separate periods after the mother's parental allowance period has ended.

After the paternity leave the father can take out the following types of parental leave:

  • parental leave, after the mother's maternity leave. The leave can also be divided with the mother.
  • care leave, after the parental leave.
  • partial care leave, if the father returns to work part-time.

Timing of the paternity leave

You can go on paternity leave when your child is born. Fathers can, if they wish, use all of their paternity allowance entitlement after the maternity and parental allowance period. You must take paternity leave before your child reaches the age of two or before two years have passed since the child was adopted.

You can take the leave all at one time or break it up into shorter periods. The 1 to 18 days that may be taken at the same time as the child's mother can be broken up into as many as 4 periods. The paternity leave entitlement following the payment of the parental allowance can be divided into 2 periods. None of the paternity leave entitlement can be transferred to the mother.

If, for example, the father after the parental allowance period claims paternity allowance from Monday to Friday one week and from Monday to Friday again the following week, he will have used up both of the 2 allowed periods, although he will not have used up the maximum number of days available. The reason for this is that the allowance is also paid for Saturdays even if the father has the day off from work on Saturday.

Please note that the paternity allowance period is cut short also when the father works for just one working day during the paternity leave. Work done on Sundays or other holidays does not interrupt the paternity allowance period. 

Fathers in multi-birth families and fathers who have adopted several children at a time can use the extension of the paternity allowance period either in full or in part during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period or after the parental allowance period. The extension of the paternity allowance period does not affect the number of the aforementioned periods.

Example

The father of twins can take 1–36 days of paternity leave during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period and the rest of the days in a maximum of two separate periods after that. The father of triplets can take 1–54 days of paternity leave during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period.

If you take paternity leave after the parental allowance period has ended your child can attend day care before the paternity leave.  Tell the day care provider that your child will stay home during the paternity leave at least two weeks before the leave is set to begin. Your decision to take paternity leave does not mean that you have to give up your child's place in day care. However, your child cannot attend day care during the paternity leave. Other children in your family can attend day care while you are on paternity leave.

You should note that any paternity allowance you are paid after the parental allowance period will affect the child care allowance. Find out how the paternity leave affects the child home care allowance and the private day care allowance.

Paternity allowance during the paternity leave

During the paternity leave, Kela pays you a paternity allowance. Find out if your employer will pay you a salary during the paternity leave. You will need this information when claiming paternity allowance. You can claim paternity allowance also if you are, for example, self-employed, unemployed or a student.   

Notify your employer at least 2 months before taking a paternity leave. If you will be taking 12 or fewer working days off, the pre-notification period is just one month. Sometimes it is necessary to change a period of leave that you had planned to take out in connection with the birth of the child if e.g. the child is born prematurely or if the child, the mother or the father falls ill. In such a case, you can change the paternity leave by informing your employer about it as soon as possible.

Do not claim paternity allowance until the child has been born and you know when you wish to take a paternity leave. Claim the allowance for a single contiguous period or for several shorter periods if you wish to divide it. Paternity allowance is paid for all days of the week except for Sundays and holidays that fall on a weekday. You can choose the days for which to claim paternity allowance. For example, you can choose to receive paternity allowance for Saturdays or choose not to receive it.

You can use the calculator for working days (in Finnish) to determine the end date of your paternity leave or the number of paternity leave days during a specific period. Select the start date of your paternity leave and the number of paternity leave days or the end date of your paternity leave.

It is worth noting, however, that if your employer pays you a salary during the paternity leave, the paternity allowance will be paid to your employer. If the paternity leave includes paid days off, the allowance will be paid to the employer for those days as well. For example, if a paid paternity leave spans a weekend and Saturday is a paid day off, the paternity allowance will be paid to the employer also for the Saturday, in which case the Saturday will count against the father's paternity allowance entitlement.

Entitlement to the paternity allowance

You are entitled to a paternity allowance if you are married to or living together with the child's mother and you take part in the child care responsibilities. You can get paternity allowance even if you temporarily live at different addresses if the separation is due, for example, to work arrangements and not to a breakup of your relationship.

Another requirement for receiving paternity allowance is that you must have been covered by the Finnish social security system for at least 180 days immediately before the expected due date for your child. This residence requirement can also include time during which you have had health insurance coverage in another EU/EEA country, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Israel. If you move to Finland from another country, see the section From other countries to Finland for more information.

Fathers who are entitled to daily allowances for parents under the new and old laws

The father of a baby can use his days of entitlement to paternity allowance under the old law while the mother receives pregnancy or parental allowance for the baby. The number of days that can be used in situations like this is unlimited, but there may not be more than two paternity allowance periods after the mother’s parental allowance payment for an older child has ended.

If payment of paternity allowance begins while the mother is being paid parental allowance and ends after the mother no longer receives parental allowance, the father is considered to have used one post parental allowance period even if paternity allowance is paid without interruption. The days of entitlement must be used by the time the child reaches the age of two. 

Paternity allowance payments for two different children do not count against the quota for simultaneous parental allowance payments. Note however that you cannot get paternity allowance for an older child and parental allowance for a baby at the same time. 

Example: Using paternity allowance entitlement days for an older child

There are two children in a family, the older of whom was born in September 2021. The parents have their second child in October 2022. The parent giving birth first takes a pregnancy leave of 40 days for the baby, after which she can take 160 days of parental allowance in four periods of 40 days each. The other parent can take their own parental allowance quota of 160 days in three periods of 18, 45 and 97 respectively. After that, they can take another 50 days of parental allowance for the older child, if any remain unused. These days can be taken at the same time with their spouse/partner.


 

Different types of families

If you adopt a child from another country through an international adoption agency, you can get paternity allowance once you have received a certificate from the agency stating that the child has been placed in your care.

You can claim paternity allowance from Kela and take paternity leave on the same terms as biological fathers. Paternity allowance can be paid from the day when the adoptive child is first placed in your care. You can decide whether to start your paternity leave from the day when the child was placed in your care or to take out paternity leave later. An adoptive father’s right to paternity allowance expires two years after the adopted child has been placed in their care.

Adoptive fathers in rainbow families are also entitled to paternity allowance when a child is adopted from outside the family.

The paternity allowance is not increased even if more than one child is born in the family at the same time.

If more than one child is born or adopted into a family at the same time, you can get paternity allowance for an additional 18 working days for the second child and any further children after that. For 2 children the paternity allowance period can be 72 working days (54 +18 working days), for 3 children 90 working days (54 +18+18 working days) and 4 or more children in 105 working days (54 +18+18+15 working days), which is the maximum number of paternity allowance days.

Both parents can stay home at the same time after childbirth to look after their children. Fathers in multiple-birth families and fathers who have adopted several children at a time can use the extension of the paternity allowance period either in full or in part during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period (a maximum of 4 separate periods), or after the parental allowance period (a maximum of 2 separate periods).

The father of a family that has had twins can, for example, take 36 working days (18 + 18 working days,  6 weeks) of paternity leave at the same time as the mother. The father may, if he so wishes, divide these paternity allowance days into a maximum of 4 periods. A father of triplets can, if he wishes, take 1 to 54 days of paternity leave during the mother’s maternity and parental allowance period in a maximum of 4 periods.

The father can take the rest of the paternity leave later, but not at the same time as the mother.

If you take paternity leave after the parental allowance period has ended, your child can attend early childhood education before your leave. Tell the provider of the early childhood education that your child will stay home during the paternity leave at least two weeks before the leave is set to begin. Your decision to take paternity leave does not mean that you have to give up your child's place in early childhood education. However, your child cannot attend early childhood education during the paternity leave. Other children in your family can attend early childhood education while you are on paternity leave.

You should note that any paternity allowance you are paid after the parental allowance period will affect the child care allowance. Find out how the paternity leave affects the child home care allowance and the private day care allowance.

The spouse or the unmarried partner or registered partner of a biological mother or the spouse of an adoptive mother is also entitled to paternity allowance regardless of gender. It is not necessary for her to have adopted the child of her spouse or partner in order to qualify for paternity or parental allowance.

The child's biological father is entitled to paternity and parental allowance only if he is responsible for the care of the child. In the family of a male couple, the spouse or partner of the biological father of the child is not entitled to paternity allowance.

Family structure does not affect the paternity allowance.

If you are responsible for caring for a child, you can get paternity allowance even if you are not married to or cohabiting with the mother of the child. You need not be living with the child, but you must be caring for him or her during your paternity leave.

Other situations during paternity allowance

The paternity leave is a child-specific entitlement. If a child is born to you or you adopt a child, and you have paternity allowance entitlement left over from a previous birth or adoption, you can use up to 24 of those days consecutively while the child's mother is on maternity or parental leave for the latest birth or adoption. Paternity leave left over from a previous birth or adoption must be taken out before the child in question reaches the age of two or before two years have passed since the child was adopted.

As far as your paternity allowance entitlement based on the latest birth or adoption is concerned, you can take up to 18 days with the child's mother. In total, fathers may take up to 42 days of paternity allowance while the child's mother receives maternity or parental allowance. Paternity allowance is payable for only one child at a time.

In order to qualify for a paternity allowance, you may not work or study on a full-time basis during the paternity leave. Working on Sundays and other holidays is allowed, because paternity allowance is only payable for working days.

Working refers to all kinds of gainful activity, including telecommuting from home or being on call or standby. It also includes working in a company owned personally or by a family member, agricultural and forestry work, independent scientific work, and holding an office of public trust that is related to one's principal employment or comes with monetary compensation. Being an informal or family caregiver is also considered to be a gainful activity.

Last modified 6/11/2023