Home and Family Families with Children: Benefits and Housing Allowances
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Home and Family Families with children: Benefits and housing allowances In Easy English Contents Home and Family 1 Support for families with children 2 Who can get support given to families with children? 2 Before the child is born 3 After the child is born 4 Support for adoptive parents 6 Kela Card 6 Child benefit 6 Child care support 7 When a child gets ill 9 Maintenance allowance 9 Application and payment 10 Housing support 11 Who can get a general housing allowance? 11 How much general housing allowance can you get? 12 Calculating your housing benefit 14 Application and payment 15 Kela is at your service 16 Report all changes 16 Appealing (protesting) a Kela decision 16 Contact information 17 Home and Family This brochure tells you This brochure tells you what financial benefits Kela gives the main points about Kela’s support to families with children and for families with children for housing. and for housing in 2013. Benefits for families with children Not all the small details belong to all such families. about support are here. The housing benefit is affected by More information about services the amount of income and property you have. Only those who have Other benefits connected with home small incomes get it. and family are, for example: • compensation connected with Kela grants assistance only on the getting ill basis of applications, so all benefits • student support must be applied for from Kela. • benefits received by those doing You can apply for benefits their military service via the Internet or • unemployment benefits. by filling in application forms. These are presented in their own www.kela.fi/asiointi brochures. The criteria for Kela support You can get information have been set in law. about important services When Kela decides about granting for families with children – such as some type of support, daycare, school and rental housing the life situation of each applicant – from the municipal government is handled individually. office in your own locality, or from its website. The life situation and need for support of the applicant can be You can get information about very different from person to person. public health care services For this reason, the amount from child health clinics and of support can also be different. health centres. 1 Support for families with children Kela supports the everyday life Who can get support given to of families with children families with children? in many ways, starting from expecting a baby. You can get support from Kela With the help of Kela, given to families with children parents can be with their children when you belong to the Finnish social during the important first months. security system and Later, Kela supports the care live in Finland permanent. of the child and costs caused by having a child. Others also who work in Finland can sometimes get assistance. Kela’s benefits to families with If you have lived in another country children are or are moving to another country, • maternity allowance check your social security status • parental daily allowances from Kela. • child benefit • child care support Moving to or away from Finland • assistance for ill and disabled can affect the benefits paid by Kela. children • maintenance allowance. Before the child is born Parental daily allowances cover these kinds of support: Pregnancy certificate • maternity allowance When you think • special maternity allowance you may be pregnant, • paternity allowance contact your locality’s • parental allowance. maternity clinic. Maternity clinic services are free – they don’t cost anything. Special maternity allowance Maternity allowance Parental allowance Paternity allowance 30 weekdays before Pregnancy confirmed50 weekdays before Calculated time / birth 1 month 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months calculated time of birthcalculated time of birth 2 You can get good advice Maternity allowance from the child health clinic Mothers normally go on for your pregnancy period and birth. maternity leave 30 days before the calculated time of birth. Along with this, the health of the In this case, mothers receive mother and fetus are monitored. a maternity allowance. You must have a medical examination It is paid for a total of 105 weekdays once before the fourth month – about 4 months. of pregnancy has ended. Apply for a maternity allowance no You get a pregnancy certificate later than 2 months before the birth. from a doctor or child health clinic. You need it when you apply for If required, a mother can already go a maternity grant and on maternity leave 50–31 days before maternity allowance from Kela. the calculated time of birth. In this case, mothers receive a Maternity grant maternity allowance earlier. When a pregnancy has lasted for 5 months, you have the right Remember to inform your employer to a maternity grant. about your maternity leave no later A maternity grant is, as you prefer, than 2 months before it starts. a maternity package or a tax-free sum of money totalling 140 euros. The maternity package contains Special maternity allowance baby clothes as well as care products If you come in contact in your work and materials. with radiation, chemical agents or infectious disease, you can stay away from work as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed. You get a special maternity allowance during this time. paternity allowance Parental allowance Extension for twins 4 months 5 months 6 months 7 months 8 months 9 months 10 months 11 months 12 months 15 months 3 After the child is born If you haven’t had any of this leave yet, you can have all 54 weekdays free. After a child is born, the mother and father are normally You can have paternity leave only at home with the child for some time. before the child is two years old. Kela pays a parental daily allowance during this period, which safeguards Apply for paternity allowance no later the family’s income. than 2 months from the date the child is 2 years old. Maternity allowance After the child is born, the mother’s maternity leave Inform your employer about your continues for about 3 months. paternity leave no later than A maternity allowance is paid 2 months before your leave starts. to mothers during this time. If your leave is at maximum Paternity leave and paternity 12 weekdays, tell your employer allowance no later than one month before. A father can have at maximum 54 free days – in other words, about This 9-week paternity leave is a new 9 weeks. Of this time, you can spend thing, and it only concerns families. 1–18 weekdays or 3 weeks at home The new paternity leave is for families with the mother during the same where the maternity allowance or period. parental benefit started after 1 January 2013. You can have the rest of the leave after the maternity allowance or If the maternity allowance or parental benefit has ended. If you parental benefit started in 2012, have already had 18 weekdays free, paternity leave is given in accordance you can still have 36 weekdays free. with the old law. During the paternity leave period, More information: you get a paternity allowance from telephone 020 692 226 Kela. You get this money if you live Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-6 p.m. with the child’s mother. You can have this period all at one time or have it in parts. 4 Parental allowance parental allowance are given Either the mother or father can take the collective name parental leave. The mother or father parental daily allowance. can also have this free time in turns. Parental leave lasts 158 weekdays – They are calculated the same way. about half a year. The amount of daily allowance is normally specified according Kela pays parental allowance to the applicant’s working income. for the parental leave to the parent Daily allowance is always smaller who is at home caring for the child. than one’s salary – normally about 70% of one’s income. When the parental allowance ends, Daily allowance is paid on the basis the child is about 9 months old. If the of weekdays, which also includes family has twins, Kela pays 60 more Saturday. weekdays of parental allowance. If you get a salary The requirement for parental during your parental leave, allowance is the mother’s medical Kela pays the daily allowance examination within 5–12 weeks to your employer. of the birth. Daily allowance is also affected by whether or not you have studied Apply for parental allowance one or been ill or without a job. month before you start the leave. The smallest daily allowance is The mother and father can also about 600 euros per month. work part-time and look after A student, for example, the child for half a day in turns. gets this lowest amount. For this period, Kela pays Parental daily allowance is partial parental allowance taxable income. to both parents. Tax is withheld in keeping with your tax deduction card. How much parental daily allowance Pension and annual holiday adds up can be received? for the worker when on maternity, Maternity allowance, paternity or parental leave. special maternity allowance, paternity allowance and 5 Support for adoptive parents Kela Card Kela supports the parents When the child is born in Finland, of an adopted child the same way information about this goes directly as with biological parents. from the hospital to the population register and from there to Kela. Adoptive parents cannot get The child gets a personal identity maternity allowance, but they get code and, after getting his/her name, a longer parental allowance period.