Support for childcare at home

Child home care allowance includes:

• care allowance
• income-related care supplement
• municipal Helsinki supplement

The amount of care allowance included in child home care allowance depends on the child’s age. The amount of care supplement depends on the family’s gross income and size, and it is paid only for one child at a time. The Helsinki supplement is only paid for the youngest child in the family who receives child home care allowance.

* EUR 113.07 per child is paid for other siblings under the age of 3, who are not in municipal early childhood education and EUR 72.66 per child is paid for other siblings over the age of 3 but under school age and who are not in municipal early childhood education.
** The amount of the care supplement depends on the family's size and gross income and it is paid only for one child.
*** The Helsinki supplement is paid only for the family’s youngest child of whom child care allowance is paid for.

Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, will issue a decision to customers on the amount of home care allowance and Helsinki supplement starting on 1 August separately after 24 July.

You can apply for child home care allowance and the included Helsinki supplement from Kela, The Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Read more about applying for the allowance on the Kela website(Link leads to external service) (opens in new tab).

The amount of the Helsinki supplement paid for adopted children is EUR 264 per month for an adopted child over one year of age living in Helsinki and receiving child home care allowance until one year has passed from the start of the parental allowance period. However, the payment of the Helsinki supplement will end at the latest when the adopted child starts school if or the child's eligibility to receive child home care allowance ends for another reason.

How to apply

• You can apply for the Helsinki supplement for adopted children from the City of Helsinki. Follow these instructions:
• Apply for the Helsinki supplement at the latest 18 months after the start of your parental allowance period.
• Fill in the Application form: Helsinki supplement for adopted children, PDF. The application must be submitted by the guardian who primarily cares for the child.
• Attach copies of Kela’s child home care allowance decision and parental allowance decision and your annual tax card.
• Send your application to the following address:
  
  City of Helsinki Registrar's Office
  P.O. Box 10
  Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13
  00099 City of Helsinki

Remember to also notify the city of any changes to your child home care allowance or its termination.

Families with multiple children born or adopted at the same time are entitled to benefits for multiple-birth families. The family can claim from the City of Helsinki the difference between the calculated total amount of child home care allowance and the extended parental allowance paid by Kela as a benefit for multiple-birth family. The condition for being granted the benefit is that the amount of parental allowance paid to your family during the extended parental allowance period is smaller than child home care allowance would be in the corresponding period.

Benefit for multiple-birth families is applied for using a separate form, which is to be accompanied by Kela’s parental allowance decision and your annual tax card. The benefit will be paid retrospectively once the additional parental allowance days have been used.

Application form: Benefit for multiple-birth families, PDF

Submit your application for the benefit for multiple-birth families together with its attachments to:

City of Helsinki, Registrar's Office
P.O. Box 10
Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13
00099 City of Helsinki

Enquiries: Special Planner Piia Nevala, tel. 040 718 2858

Private daycare allowance includes:

• care allowance
• care supplement
• municipal Helsinki supplement.

The amount of care allowance is statutory. The amount of care supplement depends on the family’s gross income.

If a family is paid care supplement, they are also entitled to an additional EUR 60 Helsinki supplement. The Helsinki supplement is paid for full-time early childhood education, that is, when the early childhood education hours listed in the child's care agreement are over 25 hours per week.

* Care supplement depends on the income of the family. If a family is entitled for the care supplement, it is also entitled to additional Helsinki-supplement of EUR 60.
** Helsinki supplement is paid for full-time early childhood education, that is, when the early childhood education hours listed in the child's care agreement are over 25 hours per week.

Here is how you can hire a caregiver for your child and apply for private daycare allowance.

Making an employment contract

First, the family will search for and select a caregiver. Then, the family will sign an employment contract with the caregiver of their choice. The employment contract must indicate:

• employer (family) and employee (caregiver)
• the addresses and contact details of both the employer and the caregiver
• work tasks
• daily working hours
• children to be looked after (how many, their age/ages)
• place of work, address
• amount of pay and payment date
• duration of the employment contract
• period of notice of the employment contract
• holiday period.

Caregiver’s interview

For the city to approve the caregiver as an early childhood education provider, an interview must be scheduled with the caregiver before the start of the employment. Before the interview, the family or the caregiver must send a copy of the employment contract and  Kela's WH 2e form(Link leads to external service) as a secured email to the early childhood education service coordinator Auli Stenberg at auli.stenberg@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program) (Clicking the email address opens your default email programme). See instructions for sending a secure email below.

You can then book an interview appointment with Auli Stenberg by email or by telephone, tel. +358 9 310 26396.

How to send a secure email:

1. Go to https://securemail.hel.fi/kuntalaiset(Link leads to external service)
2.  Type your email address in the Sender field and click Continue
3. Use your bank credentials to log in via the Suomi.fi identification service
4. In the Recipient field, type auli.stenberg@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program) 
5. Write your message and attach the WH-2 form and a copy of the employment contract.

Applying for private daycare allowance

After the interview, we will send the WH 2e form(Link leads to external service) and a copy of the employment contract to Kela on behalf of the family. After the interview, the family fills in and sends the application for private care allowance to Kela with the WH 1e form ‘Claim - Child home care allowance - Private daycare allowance’.(Link leads to external service) You can find the forms onKela’s Forms for Families with Children website(Link leads to external service).

Hiring a caregiver together with another family

Families can also hire a caregiver together with another family/other families. The caregiver can take care of up to four children at once. The caregiver can take care of the children in just one family’s home or as agreed, for example, in alternate weeks at each family’s home. If you hire a caregiver together with another family, each family must fill in their own WH 2e form(Link leads to external service).

The caregiver must provide an extract from the criminal records to the family before the start of the employment relationship. The extract from the criminal records can be ordered from the Legal Register Centre and it may not be older than 6 months. The family shall introduce the caregiver to their work once the job begins. The family is also responsible for supervising the caregiver.

When a family hires a caregiver under an employment contract, you must, as the employer, withhold taxes on the wage in accordance with the caregiver’s tax card. You must also pay social security contributions and statutory insurance contributions, including unemployment insurance contribution, earnings-related pension contribution, accident insurance and group life assurance premium. The family pays the contributions for the whole wage, also for the share corresponding to the allowance paid by Kela.

As the employer, the family must also arrange occupational health care (Page in Finnish)(Link leads to external service). for the employee as well as statutory accident insurance from an accident insurance company.

As the employer, the family must report all wage and salary payments to the national Incomes Register(Link leads to external service). The private care allowance paid by Kela must also be reported to the national Incomes Register. The wage and salary payments can be reported to the national incomes register via the Palkka.fi service (Page in Finnish(Link leads to external service)).