How do changes in your income affect your Kela benefits?
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If your income increases or decreases, it may affect the benefits you get from Kela. To find out what types of income affect your benefit, check the decision letter you received for the benefit in question.
A change in your income may also affect the benefits that your partner or roommate receives. In the same way, changes in your partner’s or roommate’s income can affect the benefits you receive. Changes in your parents’ income can also affect your benefits.
Family benefits
Pregnancy allowance or parental allowance is not paid for days when you are working. Working on Sundays or midweek holidays does not affect your pregnancy allowance or parental allowance because these daily allowances are only paid for working days (Mon–Sat). You do not have to report your earnings or any work you do on Sundays or midweek holidays.
If you work on days other than Sundays or midweek holidays, you must report the days you work to Kela.
A change in income can affect the amount of the care supplement that can be paid with child home care allowance or private day care allowance.
Read more about how income affects the care supplement paid with child home care allowance.
Read more about how income affects the care supplement paid with private day care allowance.
Apply for a review of your care allowance
If you cannot use OmaKela, apply for a review of your care allowance on the form Claim – Child home care allowance – Private day care allowance WH 1e (PDF). Fill out the form and send it together with any supporting documents to us at Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
When there is a change in the income of a person who is liable for maintenance payments, it may be necessary to also adjust the child support payments. This, in turn, can affect the child maintenance allowance paid by Kela. If you have questions or concerns about the confirmation of child support, contact the child welfare officer of your wellbeing services county.
If your income decreases and you have child support debt, you may have the right to an exemption from payment.
How to apply for an exemption from the payment of child support debt.
Student benefits
Your income affects the number of months per year for which you can get financial aid for students and the housing supplement for students. You do not have to tell us if your income changes, but you must make sure that your income does not exceed the annual income limit.
The same annual income limit applies to both student financial aid and the student housing supplement. If you realise that you are about to exceed the annual income limit, you can cancel the payment of student financial aid (the study grant and the student housing supplement) for the coming months. This will raise your annual income limit. If your income exceeds the annual income limit, you will have to pay back both your study grant and the student housing supplement to Kela.
If you are under 18 or you live with one or both of your parents, your parents’ income may reduce or increase the amount of study grant paid to you or prevent you from getting any study grant at all. The income of your partner or your parents does not affect how much housing supplement you can get.
Read more about how your own income affects your student financial aid for students in upper secondary education and students in higher education.
Read more about how parental income affects student financial aid for students in upper secondary education and students in higher education.
If you have an outstanding student loan and your income decreases, you may have the right to interest assistance. You can get interest assistance only if your income does not exceed a specific income limit during the four months preceding the payment of interest.
General social security benefit, general housing allowance and social assistance
Your general housing allowance must be reviewed if your income or the income of your household changes.
Sickness benefits
Notify Kela if
- you start working while you are being paid sickness allowance
- you move abroad
- you are a student and you begin to study on a full-time basis
- your employment income under the YEL Pensions Act or MYEL Pension Act changes and this change applies to the time before your sickness allowance period.
- You must notify Kela of any changes in your circumstances that could affect the amount of your sickness allowance or your right to get it.
Tell Kela if
- your part-time employment ends before the agreement on part-time employment expires
- your part-time agreement is cancelled temporarily
- your part-time agreement is revised or suspended (for example, due to a change in your working hours, the way in which the reduction in hours is worked out or the duration of the agreement, because you or your child are ill, because you go on annual leave, or because your employment contract ends). In these situations, you may be able to get sickness allowance if you remain unfit for work.
- you receive a compensation from abroad during the time you are paid sickness allowance
- your confirmed income under the YEL Pensions Act or MYEL Pensions Act changes and this change applies to the time before your sickness allowance period
- you start rehabilitation arranged by some other organisation than Kela.
Changes in income can affect your right to rehabilitation allowance or the amount of the allowance. Tell Kela in your own words about the change in your income either by sending a message in OmaKela or in a letter.
If you cannot use OmaKela, report changes in your income by sending an informal letter to the address Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
If you are paid rehabilitation allowance for young persons or rehabilitation allowance for pensioners, your earnings during a period of vocational education are not deducted from your rehabilitation allowance, and you do not have to report them.
Tell us if you start paid work. Your earned income may affect your right to receive a disability pension while you are employed. Even if the pension is not paid out at all while you work, you do not need to discontinue your pension. Your pension can be suspended for at least three months and up to two years, which means that you will not be paid a pension during that time.
Read more about working while on a disability pension.
You must also notify Kela if you begin to receive some other pension or compensation or if the amount you are paid changes.
If you cannot use OmaKela and
- you start paid work, report it using the form Tarkistushakemus – Työkyvyttömyyseläke, EV 267 (PDF, in Finnish)
- you begin to receive some other pension or compensation or the amount you are paid changes, report it using the form Application for review – National pension / Guarantee pension, E 285e (PDF).
Fill in the form and send it together with any supporting documents to us at Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
Pensions and housing allowance for pensioners
Nearly all earnings-related pensions and other pensions that are paid on a continuous basis affect the amount of the old-age pension available from Kela. Your old-age pension must be reviewed if there is a change in the amount of your other pensions.
The amount of the guarantee pension is reduced by nearly all other pension income you receive from Finland and from abroad. Your guarantee pension must be reviewed if there is a change in the amount of your other pensions. Earnings do not usually affect the guarantee pension, apart from a few exceptions.
The surviving spouse's pension paid by Kela consists of two components: a starting pension and, in some cases, a continuing pension. The continuing pension consists of a basic amount and an additional amount.
The additional amount of the continuing pension is affected by almost all of your income, including wages and salaries, pensions paid by an authorised pension provider, benefits paid by Kela, and rental and dividend income. The higher your income is, the lower is the additional amount payable. Your assets do not, however, affect the additional amount.
Report changes that affect the additional amount of the spouse's pension.
Almost all your income and assets will have an impact on how much housing allowance for pensioners you can get. If you have a partner, your housing allowance will also depend on your partner's income and assets.
Report changes that affect the housing allowance for pensioners.
Benefits for conscripts
Your income and expenses determine whether you can get conscript’s allowance and how much your conscript’s allowance will be. If you have any income during your time in military or non-military service, the amount of your conscript's allowance is reduced by the equivalent of your net income. When calculating the conscript’s allowance, an exempt amount is applied to wage and salary income and income from self-employment. That means that you can earn a specific amount per month during your service without it affecting your conscript’s allowance.
Notify Kela if there are changes in your income or in the income of your partner who is entitled to conscript’s allowance.
If you cannot use OmaKela, use the form Hakemus – Sotilasavustus SA 1 (PDF, in Finnish) to apply for this benefit. Fill in the form and send it together with any supporting documents to us at Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
All your available income and assets affect the amount of social assistance you can get.
Report changes that affect your social assistance.