News of the week in plain Finnish | Saturday 2.5.2026

Tightening of home care support conditions

Listen

You can read the news simultaneously below.

Topic of the week

This time, the topic is tightening the conditions for home care support.

The government is making new rules for who can receive support for caring for a child at home.

The plan has sparked debate about how families are treated in Finland.

We will now tell you more about home care support and the government’s new plans.

Open image viewer

A family can receive home care support if the family takes care of the child at home. In that case, the child does not use a municipal day care place. Photo: Antti Laakso / Yle

Home care support

Home care allowance is money that Kela pays to a child’s parents.

A family can receive home care support if a child under the age of 3 is cared for at home.

Support can be paid to a family that does not use a municipal daycare place.

Currently, home care allowance is just under 380 euros per month.

The number of beneficiaries is constantly decreasing because fewer children are being born than before.

Last year, the amount of support decreased by 12 percent, or approximately 10,000 families.

Three-year rule

Now the government wants to tighten the conditions for home care support.

The government plans to tighten the conditions so that both parents must live in Finland or Europe for three years before they can receive support.

The idea is that immigrants will learn the language and find jobs faster when their parents go to work quickly.

The aim is also for children to learn the language quickly when they are in kindergarten with other children.

Experts warn that the change could be costly for the state.

If many families run out of home care, more places will be needed in daycare centers quickly. Daycare costs the municipality more than home care support.

Open image viewer

Children at the Säte daycare center in Kontula, Helsinki. (This private daycare center was founded by Rahmo Hassan, who is supervising the children in the photo.) Photo: Jussi Koivunoro / Yle

Problems with tightening

The immigrant families’ organization Familia ry criticizes the government’s plan.

Familia helps families where one parent is from abroad.

The organization says that the new rule is also bad for Finnish citizens.

If a Finn starts a family with someone who comes from outside Europe, the family may be left without support.

The organization says it is scary if the state denies support because of who a person lives with.

Familia says that simply removing support will not help people find jobs if there are no jobs available.

Open image viewer

The government believes that immigrant children learn the language faster when they are in kindergarten with other children. Photo: Sakari Piippo / Yle

Repetition

The topic of the week’s news was the change in home care support.

The government intends to tighten support for home care.

The intention is that in the future, support will only be available if both parents have lived in Finland for three years.

The organization Familia ry says that the new rule places families in an unequal position.

This was the news of the week in plain Finnish. See you again, bye!