Informal care support — allowance, days off and services

Informal care support is based on the Act on Support for Informal Care (937/2005) and is a package that includes a care allowance in money, statutory days off and services that support the care. In 2026 the care allowance is at least 530 euros a month. During a demanding transitional stage of care (for example end-of-life care or a move from one form of care to another) the allowance is at least 966 euros a month. Wellbeing services counties apply several allowance categories according to how binding the care is — the county-specific criteria and guidelines can be found in the Suomi.fi guide on informal care.

The allowance is taxable income, and it accrues earnings-related pension if you are under 68. Your own income or assets do not affect the amount of the allowance. Note, however, that the allowance may reduce some other benefits — for example the means-tested general assistance and housing allowance (there the allowance counts as income).

Statutory days off — take them

A family caregiver who has signed an agreement has the right to at least two days off per month, and if the care is binding around the clock or continuously every day, to at least three days (Act on Support for Informal Care, section 4). The wellbeing services county must arrange care for your loved one during your time off — options include short-term care in a care unit, a substitute carer at home, or family care. The fee charged to the person being cared for during the leave is at most 13.70 €/day (2026). Days off can often be saved and taken as a longer period — agree on this with your county. Many family caregivers never take their days off, and that is the most direct route to burnout.

Are you caring for your loved one without an informal care agreement? Then there are no statutory days off, but you can apply to the wellbeing services county for leave under the Social Welfare Act, i.e. discretionary leave, if the care binds you daily and is continuous — the county then arranges a care place for your loved one during the leave at the same fee of at most 13.70 €/day. Read more in the Suomi.fi guide.

• Start from the official Suomi.fi guide suomi.fi guide on informal care — it directs you to your own wellbeing services county's application and services. The application is made on the county's own form, not in OmaKela.
• Attach a medical statement about the person being cared for (usually a C or B statement). The statement is the most important part of the application — ask the treating doctor to describe the need for help concretely, not in general terms.
• Describe how binding the care is honestly and in detail — do not play it down. Write down what you do from morning to night and what would happen without you. Night-time assistance, constant supervision and lifting are worth mentioning separately.
• A home visit is part of the process — do not be alarmed by it. Describe everyday life as it is, not at its best.
• When support is granted, an informal care agreement and a care and service plan are drawn up. Insist that the plan includes entries on how the days off are arranged and on the services for the person being cared for — what is written down is easier to demand later.

Working alongside caregiving

Caregiving does not prevent working, and working does not prevent informal care support. Many people combine part-time work and caregiving — it takes arrangements, but you have the right to it, and the wellbeing services county has obligations to make it possible.

Care for your loved one during your working hours can be arranged

The county's services can cover care for your loved one during your working hours: for example day activities under the Act on Disability Services, morning and afternoon activities for schoolchildren, demanding-support units and transport to them. These often have to be negotiated — and sometimes demanded — but they exist precisely so that the caring relative can go to work. Record the needs in the care and service plan when informal care support is agreed. Information on disability services and how to apply for them is available from your county's disability services guidance and from the Inclusion Finland KVTL advice service.

Part-time work and adjusted benefit

If you work part-time and are registered as an unemployed jobseeker, pay and unemployment benefit can be reconciled — the earned income reduces the benefit, but does not remove it entirely. Adjusted benefit is applied for from the same place as other unemployment benefit: Kela (general assistance) or your own unemployment fund. More in the unemployment guide.

Kela benefits when you care for your own child

If the person being cared for is your own child, several Kela benefits exist alongside informal care support. They do not exclude one another — and some of them are often left unclaimed because the names are misleading. Everything is applied for in OmaKela (oma.kela.fi) or on Kela forms.

Disability allowance for children (under 16)

If caring for the child's illness or disability causes greater-than-usual strain and commitment for at least 6 months, Kela can pay a disability allowance at three rates: basic rate 110.49 €/month, middle rate 257.82 €/month and highest rate 499.93 €/month (2026). The allowance is tax-free. The name misleads many: for example ADHD, an autism spectrum condition or diabetes can also qualify — the diagnosis alone does not decide it, but how binding the care is. A C medical statement is needed for the application. The allowance can be granted retroactively for 6 months. Guidance and application: kela.fi/disability-allowance-for-children.

Special care allowance — when you are away from work because of your child's care

If you are away from work to take part in your child's (under 16) hospital care, outpatient visits or rehabilitation and receive no pay for that time, Kela compensates your loss of income with special care allowance. A D medical certificate (or a certificate of attendance from the rehabilitation) and the employer's statement of no pay are needed as attachments. Guidance and application: kela.fi/special-care-allowance.

Flexible and partial care allowance — support for reduced working hours

Flexible care allowance is available to the parent of a child under 3 who works at most 30 hours a week (kela.fi/flexible-care-allowance). Partial care allowance (about 108 €/month) is normally paid only to the parent of a child in grades 1–2 — but there is an exception few people know about: the parent of a child in need of special care and attention can receive partial care allowance until the child's 18th birthday, if working hours are at most 30 hours a week because of caring for the child. For the parent of a child with special needs this is exactly the combination of part-time work and support that many are looking for without knowing it exists. Both can be applied for retroactively for 6 months. Guidance and application: kela.fi/partial-care-allowance.

If working is not possible

When the care binds you so much that work is not a realistic possibility, your income is built from several parts. This section goes through the options honestly — including what does not work.

General assistance — but with conditions

An unemployed family caregiver can receive general assistance (37.21 €/day, i.e. about 800 €/month in 2026), but the condition is that you are a jobseeker and ready to accept full-time work. The employment authority assesses how binding the caregiving is and how care for your loved one would be arranged if you got a job. If the caregiving is deemed a full-time obstacle to accepting work, there is no right to general assistance. Note too: general assistance is means-tested, and informal care support reduces it — your spouse's income, however, has no effect. Notify the employment services as soon as you sign an informal care agreement, and submit an account of your situation as a caregiver — failing to do so can jeopardise your benefit (Suomi.fi: informal carer's checklist). Guidance and application: kela.fi/general-assistance. More in the unemployment guide.

Disability pension — a common misconception

Housing allowance and last-resort social assistance

General housing allowance tops up small incomes — remember that the care allowance counts as income there. Guidance: kela.fi/general-housing-allowance. If all income and benefits together are not enough for necessary expenses, Kela's social assistance is available as a last resort (kela.fi/social-assistance). If money is repeatedly tight, see also the Money when things are tight guide and, in an acute emergency, the Emergency help page.

Other benefits — check these

Child benefit and single-parent supplement

Child benefit is paid for every child under 17. If you are a single parent, a supplement belongs to each child benefit — check in OmaKela that it is marked for payment, as it does not always come automatically. Guidance: kela.fi/child-benefit.

Child maintenance allowance

If the other parent does not pay child maintenance or none has been confirmed, Kela can pay a child maintenance allowance. A child should not go without because the other parent does not pay. Guidance: kela.fi/child-maintenance-allowance.

Care allowance for pensioners for the person being cared for

If your loved one receives a pension, they can get a care allowance for pensioners alongside informal care support — the two do not exclude one another. The allowance is paid to the person being cared for, but it eases the whole household's situation. Guidance: kela.fi/care-allowance-for-pensioners and the pensioner's guide.

Healthcare payment caps

In a caregiving family, health expenses are often high. The medicine cap accumulates automatically, but the healthcare client fee cap does not — collect receipts and apply for an exemption card from the wellbeing services county when the cap is reached. More detailed guidance in the benefits questionnaire.

Coping and peer support

A family caregiver's exhaustion is not weakness but a logical consequence of overload — and it matters for the person being cared for too, because the care does not continue if the carer collapses. As a caregiver with an agreement, you are entitled to the county's free health check — some counties send an invitation, in others the check must be booked yourself, so ask your own contact person. You can also apply for subsidised holidays: Maaseudun Terveys- ja Lomahuolto ry organises them for family caregivers and caregiving families together with the Central Association of Carers, and a holiday can be applied for even without an informal care agreement. Read more in the Suomi.fi guide. And take those statutory days off.

Important contact details in one place