Can you get social assistance?

Social assistance (toimeentulotuki) is a form of financial support that is paid out as a last resort. This means that you have to apply for all other benefits that you may have the right to before you apply for social assistance.

Social assistance can be paid to a person or a family if their income and assets do not cover their essential expenses, such as food and rent. Social assistance is granted to a family as a whole. The amount of social assistance depends on the income, assets and expenses of all family members.

Income includes, for example:

• wages or salary
• other social security benefits
• child maintenance payments.

You can get social assistance for acceptable expenses. These can include rent, food, healthcare and clothes. You cannot get social assistance for all types of expenses.

Kela calculates how much social assistance you can get by deducting your acceptable expenses from your income and assets.

This is a summary. Please scroll down for more information and instructions on how to apply for the benefit.

In the calculation of social assistance, adult children are not considered to be part of their parents' family even if they live in the same home. An adult living with their parents must apply for social assistance separately. Their income, assets and expenses do not affect the social assistance of the other family members.

In the calculation of social assistance, a child who is under 18 years old is considered to be a part of their parents’ family. However, the income of a child under 18 does not affect the family’s social assistance if the income is low and irregular. As an example, a child’s earnings from a summer job lasting less than 3 months do not affect the family’s social assistance.

Parents are responsible for the maintenance of their children until the children reach the age of 18 years. Children under 18 can apply for social assistance separately if they live away from their parents. However, Kela checks the income and assets of their parents and evaluates the parents’ ability to provide maintenance for their children. If the person responsible for the child’s maintenance has deliberately neglected their responsibility, the social assistance or part of it can be recovered from the person liable for maintenance.

Persons sharing a house or apartment may form a communal household without being a family. If they do not constitute a family they must apply for assistance separately. For example, when adult siblings or friends live in the same house or apartment, each of them counts as a separate family. This means that each of them should apply for social assistance separately. We will consider their income, assets and expenses separately from the other people who live at the same address.

For persons living in a communal household, the basic amount of social assistance is the equivalent of 85 per cent of the basic amount for a person living alone. The reason for this is that living expenses per person in a communal household are generally lower than the living expenses of someone living alone.

If you are 18–65 years old and you are unemployed, register as a jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta) before you apply for social assistance. This obligation also applies to 17-year-olds who have completed their compulsory education.

Register as a jobseeker at Job Market Finland (tyomarkkinatori.fi/en).

Find out if you can get unemployment benefits from your unemployment fund or from Kela.

If you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki) without registering with the employment services first, we may have to reduce the basic amount (perusosa) of the social assistance by 50 %.

Stay registered as a jobseeker and follow your employment plan

It is important that you stay registered as an active jobseeker and follow your employment plan. If you lose your right to unemployment benefits because a mandatory waiting period (karenssi) or an obligation to work (työssäolovelvoite) is imposed on you, we may have to reduce the basic amount (perusosa) of your social assistance.

Read more

You do not need to register with the employment services and Kela will not cut your basic amount if

• you work at least 30 hours per week for an employer (paid employment)
• you are self-employed or independently employed and the amount of monthly income you get from your business or work is at least the same amount as the general social security benefit (yleistuki)
• you study full-time and you use the primary benefits for students, such as student financial aid (opintotuki) and a student loan, to support yourself during your studies
• you are unable to work and you get one of the following:
  • sickness allowance or partial sickness allowance
  • disability pension
  • rehabilitation subsidy or a benefit paid to you based on full incapacity for work
• you are paid an old-age pension or early old-age pension
• you have the right to pregnancy allowance or you are paid special pregnancy allowance, parental allowance or special care allowance, or you have been granted leave on account of pregnancy, childbirth or child care
• you are paid farm closure compensation
• you get rehabilitation allowance or compensation for loss of income on account of rehabilitation
• you are paid a years-of-service pension under the legislation on earnings-related pensions
• you cannot accept work because you are in institutional care
• you care for a child under the age of 3 at home and you get child home care allowance
• you serve as a family caregiver for at least 4 hours a day
• you serve as an informal caregiver for at least 4 hours a day
• you are in military or non-military service
• you cannot accept work for some other reason that is similar to the reasons listed above.

Always check if there are other sources of income or benefits available to you before you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki). These could be, for example,

• a study grant (opintoraha) and a student loan (also check if you can get an extension to your financial aid period)
• housing supplement for students (asumislisä)
• general housing allowance (yleinen asumistuki), in certain circumstances (for example if you have a child who lives with you in the same house or apartment)
• sickness allowance (sairauspäiväraha)
• rehabilitation allowance (kuntoutusraha).

If you do not qualify for student financial aid (opintotuki) or any other benefits, you must first try to find some other source of income that is not social assistance (for instance paid employment for over 30 hours per week).

Apply for a student loan before you apply for social assistance

Student loan counted as your income even if you do not apply for one

Students who are 18 or older are expected to apply for a student loan before they apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki). When we calculate your social assistance, we take your student loan into account as a form of income during the time when you qualify for student financial aid. We also take any student loan instalments that you have not yet drawn but which are available to you into account as income, even during the summer.

If you qualify for a student loan, we will take the amount of the student loan that you qualify for into account as your income even if you do not apply for a student loan or a government loan guarantee. If the bank does not grant you a student loan, ask the bank to issue a statement saying that you cannot get a student loan and submit it to us.

Reducing the basic amount for a student

Student financial aid and the student housing supplement are usually the primary benefits for a full-time student. If you cannot get any of those benefits, you will have to find another way to support yourself, such as paid employment or other income or assets. Working for at least 30 hours a week is considered to give you enough income to support yourself.

If you cannot support yourself in any of the ways mentioned above and you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki), we may have to reduce the basic amount (perusosa) of your social assistance. However, we will not reduce the basic amount of your social assistance if you register as an unemployed jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services and apply for unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki). This usually means that you will have to stop your studies.

If you run out of financial aid months

If you run out of financial aid months before graduating, find out before applying for social assistance if you can get an extension to your financial aid period.

Student financial aid period in upper secondary education

Extensions to the student financial aid period in higher education

When the maximum period of financial aid for students has ended, you can apply for social assistance for 3 months if you are completing your first vocational qualification.

After that, this period can be extended by a new 3-month period if you provide information about your study progress and the possibility of graduating within one year of the end of your financial aid.

Kela can grant you social assistance for your studies for a maximum of one year in total counting from the day when your maximum period of financial aid ended. Kela will not reduce the basic amount of your social assistance in these situations.

Livelihood during the summer

If you do not qualify for financial aid for students or any other benefits, you must first try to find some source of income other than social assistance. During the summer months, you are thus expected to work, actively look for work, or study and apply for student financial aid for the summer.

If you cannot study during the summer months on student financial aid and you cannot get a summer job despite actively looking for one or if your other income and assets are not enough to support you, you can apply for social assistance for the summer months. If you are a full-time student, you do not have to register with the employment services as an unemployed jobseeker and stop studying in these situations. The basic amount will also not be reduced.

Before you apply for social assistance (toimeentulotuki) from Kela, check if you have the right to any of the primary benefits (ensisijaiset tuet) for self-employed persons. Such primary benefits include start-up grants for newly self-employed persons and unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki) for those who are self-employed on a part-time basis. 

Read about unemployment benefits for self-employed persons.

Further information is available from the employment services of your municipality of residence (tyomarkkinatori.fi).

The purpose of social assistance is not to cover business risk or business expenses.

If you are self-employed and apply for social assistance, we will check how much income you make from your business. Fill in and submit the form Statement of self-employment income TO 4e (pdf) with your application.

If you are self-employed, you must earn at least about EUR 595 per month from your business. This is the same amount as labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki). If you do not earn this much, Kela will consider your business to be unprofitable and give you one month to either make your business profitable or close it down. After that, you have to register as an unemployed jobseeker looking for full-time work with the employment services of your municipality of residence (kotikunta) and apply for unemployment benefits (työttömyystuki) first before applying for social assistance (toimeentulotuki).

This also applies to independently employed persons, such as freelancers, professional athletes and social media influencers.

If you do not register with the employment services within one month of Kela telling you to do so, we may have to reduce (cut) the basic amount (perusosa) of your social assistance by 50% starting from the next month until you register as a jobseeker and apply for unemployment benefits.

If you choose to continue your unprofitable business and apply for social assistance, we may have to reduce the basic amount of your social assistance.

You can receive social assistance for some of the client fees for housing services, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county.

Communal living and in-home services

If you live in communal housing organised by the wellbeing services county or you receive services from the wellbeing services county in your home, you will pay a monthly fee for these. In addition to you monthly fee, you may have other expenses, such as user fees for public healthcare. We can grant social assistance to cover some of these fees, provided that they are not waived or reduced by your wellbeing services county. Ask your wellbeing services county for more information about payment waivers.

Out of the services provided in your home, you can receive social assistance for home care bills and security services. You may also be paying for support services such as meals and cleaning. However, you cannot get social assistance separately for these, because expenses for food and household cleanliness are considered part of the basic amount of social assistance.

If you live in communal housing, you can receive social assistance for your housing expenditure and for expenditure related to daily care and healthcare, such as help with personal hygiene and visits to the sauna.

If you apply for social assistance, send with your application a copy of the decision you have received concerning service charges and user fees. If the decision on user fees does not itemise the services you receive, you must also enclose information showing how much you are paying for each separate service. Give the information in euros or as percentages.

Around-the-clock assisted living

If you live in long-term around-the-clock assisted living provided by the wellbeing services county, you will pay an income-based user fee. The user fee covers all the services you receive, such as meals.

After payment of the user fee, you will be left with a disposable income of a minimum of EUR 182 per month. This is intended for expenses such as clothing, telephone bills, personal hygiene, out-of-pocket charges for transport services, and other costs that are not included in the service you receive.

You can receive social assistance for expenses such as bills for dental care provided within the public healthcare system or for travel costs in connection with public healthcare services. You can also receive social assistance for any housing costs for your around-the-clock assisted living that have not been deducted in the decision on the user fee. However, you cannot get social assistance for housing costs that have been deducted in full in the decision on the user fee. 

If you apply for social assistance, we will take into account as income the amount reserved for your personal use, which is a minimum of EUR 182 per month. You can see the exact amount in the decision on the user fee. The amount of social assistance is also affected by any income and assets you have that have not been taken into account in the decision on the user fee. The basic amount of your social assistance is the equivalent of EUR 182, which is the minimum disposable income in around-the-clock assisted living.

Before applying for social assistance from Kela, find out if you are entitled to a conscript’s allowance.

You can get social assistance towards expenses that are not covered by the conscript’s allowance. This includes expenses such as home insurance. You generally cannot get social assistance for other expenses during your time in service, because you get a daily allowance from your place of service and you also get free lodging, food, healthcare and clothes.

Everyone living in Finland has a duty to provide for themselves.

If necessary, we will assess individually for each applicant whether their stay in Finland is temporary or permanent.

Individuals and families who are permanently resident in Finland

Individuals and families residing permanently in Finland can get social assistance if their available income and assets do not cover their necessary expenses such as food and housing. For purposes of social assistance, income also includes any income and assets they have from outside Finland.

Read more about how income and assets affect social assistance

Individuals and families who are temporarily resident in Finland

If you reside in Finland temporarily, you must first find out if you can get help with your finances and your return home from some other source than Kela. Other possible sources of help include, for instance, money transfers from friends or family, your insurance policy or the diplomatic mission of your home country.

However, anyone staying in Finland, even temporarily, has a right to emergency support to secure their essential means of subsistence and care. If your situation is urgent, you can get a voucher from Kela for necessities such as food and necessary prescription medicines. The social services of the wellbeing services county assist with finding temporary emergency lodging.

If you are in urgent need of social assistance, call Kela’s customer service number 020 634 2550 or visit a Kela service point.

Asylum seekers

If you are an asylum seeker receiving immigrant reception services, you cannot get social assistance. The reason for this is that the Finnish Government secures your livelihood and provides other services in the form of immigrant reception services.

Persons fleeing the war in Ukraine

Read about social assistance for those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Kela benefits may affect residence permits and citizenship applications 

Some of the benefits paid by Kela may affect eligibility for Finnish citizenship or residence permits. Kela cannot answer questions about residence permits or citizenship applications. For more information about the way benefits affect residence permits and citizenship, see the website of the Finnish Immigration Service (migri.fi).