Caring for your child at home
Allowances for the home care of children
Childcare allowances include the child home care allowance, private daycare allowance, and municipal supplement to a disability allowance for a person under 16 years.
Finnish residents have a subjective right to daycare, which means families have the opportunity to apply for a place in municipal daycare, child home care allowance, or private daycare allowance. The allowances for the home care of children permit a child to be cared for at home by one of the parents or, for example, a nanny hired to attend to them at home.
Children who are cared for at home through the child home care allowance are nevertheless eligible to participate in early childhood education through the open club activities.
Kela: Child home care allowance
This allowance can be applied for by a family with a child under the age of three who does not attend municipal early childhood education or receive a private daycare allowance. One of the parents or another carer such as a relative may care for a child at home.
The application for child home care allowance is made directly to the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) and includes a fixed care allowance as well as a care supplement adjusted by income.
Private daycare allowance and municipal supplement
When the care of a child is provided by a provider of early childhood education services approved by the municipality (a private daycare centre, a group family daycare centre, a family daycare nurse or a carer hired by the family to their home), the family can apply to Kela for private care allowance (form WH1).
Private care allowance consists of care allowance, a municipal supplement and a possible income-related care supplement. Kela pays the support directly to the service provider. The family will be liable for the difference between the daycare fee determined by the service provider and the private care allowance.
You can receive private care allowance if your child is cared for by an employed carer or a private early childhood education provider. The child must be under school age. Support is not available if the child attends early childhood education or club activities organised/supported by the municipality.
More information about the private daycare allowance and municipal supplement
The amount of the private care allowance is EUR 192.28 per month. the preschool allowance is EUR 70.75 per month. The effective date of the amendments is 01/02/2020. The municipal supplement is paid if the child’s care hours exceed 25 hours a week.
| Daycare | Treatment period of more than 25 hours / week |
|---|---|
| Less than three years old | 550,00 |
| More than 3 years old: | 350,00 |
| Pre-primary education pupil: | 120,00 |
| Group family daycare | Treatment period of more than 25 hours / week |
|---|---|
| Less than three years old | 550,00 |
| More than 3 years old: | 550,00 |
| Pre-primary education pupil: | 120,00 |
| Family daycare and a carer hired at home | Family daycare and a carer hired at home |
|---|---|
| Less than three years old | 350,00 |
| More than 3 years old: | 350,00 |
| Pre-primary education pupil: | 84,09 |
The private daycare allowance is made up of:
- a care allowance of EUR 192.28 / month or EUR 70.75 / month
- the municipal supplement of EUR 84.09 / month – EUR 550 / month and
- a possible income-dependent care supplement, amounting to no more than EUR 265.85 / month.
For more information about the care supplement, visit the Kela website.
Hiring a carer at home
A family that hires a nanny or other carer to attend their child at home is eligible for the private daycare allowance. The allowance is made up of a fixed care allowance and care supplement adjusted by income, as well as a municipal supplement. Eligibility for the allowance requires the municipality to approve of the employment of the carer.
The family must find and contact the carer themselves. The carer must be over 18 years of age. The carer may not live in the same household, nor may they be on parental leave while being paid parental allowance.
After having signed an employment contract with the nurse, the family will agree on a meeting with the co-ordinator. The carer is obliged to attend the meeting, provide proof of identity, and potentially a criminal record extract (employment for more than three months).
Two or more families may jointly hire a carer for their children if the total number of children under school age to be cared for is four or less.
An application for the private daycare allowance should be filed with the Social Insurance Institution (Kela), using Form WH1. In addition, Form WH2 must be filed by the co-ordinator, registering the municipality’s approval of the employment contract.
The private daycare allowance applied for by the family/families will be paid by Kela directly to the provider. Kela will withhold the tax prepayments on this amount (WH1).
It is the duty of the family to make the tax prepayments for the rest of the carer’s wage, as well as the legally mandated employer’s fees on the entirety of the wages. These include the pension (TAEL), accident insurance, unemployment insurance, group life insurance, and social security fees.
More information about the private daycare allowance and municipal supplement
Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland): Private daycare allowance
Occupational safety and health divisions at the Regional State Administrative Agencies
Information on employment, employment legislation, and employment contracts. Forms necessary for employment.
Päivi Pöyhönen
CoordinatorMunicipal supplement for disability allowance under the age of 16
The city of Tampere grants a municipal supplement to a guardian who takes care of a disabled, chronically ill child under the age of 3 at home. The condition for receiving the municipal supplement is that the child receives the increased or highest disability allowance granted by Kela.
Municipal supplement can be paid at the earliest after the end of the parental allowance period. Municipal allowance is granted for a fixed period of time, so that its payment ends when the child's increased or highest disability allowance granted by Kela ends, however no later than when the child turns three years old.
The municipal supplement can be granted retroactively for a period of six months from the day the application has arrived at our office.
The family's income does not affect receiving the municipal supplement, and the municipal supplement is not granted for a period shorter than one month. The amount of the municipal supplement is €252.28/month and it is taxable income.
Changes to the child care arrangement and other conditions related to the granting of the municipal allowance must be immediately reported to Early Childhood Service Guidance. The municipal allowance paid in excess will be recovered.
Parental leave
Under the law that will enter into force in autumn 2022, parental leave can be taken in parts, so that the child can be in early childhood education and care at home for the duration of parental leave. The right to split parental leave applies to families where the child's due date was on or after 4 September 2022.
If the child's parents have unused parental leave days when the child starts early childhood education and care, they can use them until the child reaches the age of two. The child's entitlement to the same early childhood education and care place is then maintained during the parental leave, provided that the absence does not exceed 13 consecutive weeks.
If the parents have unused parental leave days after the 13-week period, the child must first return to early childhood education and care in order to maintain the right to the same early childhood education and care place during the new parental leave period.
The child for whom parental allowance is paid cannot be present at ECEC on the days of parental leave.
No ECEC fee is charged for days of absence, except in the case of one-off absences. The other children in the family will be charged the normal ECEC fee during this period and may attend ECEC.
Notification of absences due to parental leave
The parent or guardian must inform the director of the ECEC unit in writing when a child is absent from ECEC due to parental leave. This can be done by sending a message in eVaca.
The parent or guardian must report absences as follows
- Absences of more than 5 days and up to 13 weeks must be notified at least one month before the start of the absence.
- Repeated absences of 1 to 5 days must be notified at least one week before the first day of absence.
- For one-off absences of up to 5 days, prior notification is recommended but not compulsory. For one-off absences, the customer will be charged the normal fee for the period of absence.
- If the absence lasts longer than 13 weeks, the early childhood centre must terminate the child's early childhood education place.
Parental leave
Under the new law, it is also possible to take partial parental leave. A parent can take partial parental leave if he or she cares for the child part-time and works part-time. Parental leave can also be taken by self-employed workers.
Parental allowance can also be paid on a part-time basis for the same period, allowing parents to take turns in caring for the child.
During partial parental leave, the child for whom parental allowance is paid can attend early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care may start at the earliest at the beginning of the month in which the child reaches 9 months. Applications for a municipal early childhood education place must be submitted at least 4 months before the start of early childhood education.