A child playing with their mother at home. Photo: Kalle Parkkinen / Str / Lehtikuva
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The Finnish government is planning changes to child benefits, with a focus on adjusting the system to provide higher support for the first child, according to Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister for Social Security. A working group to review the benefits will be appointed in the autumn.
The minister told Helsingin Sanomat that under current plans, child benefit would be weighted towards the firstborn, reversing the current model where benefits increase with each additional child.
“One option discussed is that families would receive the most child benefit for their first child,” Grahn-Laasonen stated.
She noted that the review would proceed without additional funding commitments.
“In the current fiscal situation, promising more money is neither possible nor responsible,” she said.
The proposal reflects an earlier statement by Lasse Lehtonen, Kela’s new Director General, who suggested increasing first-child benefits to support birth rates. According to Lehtonen, the current structure does not reflect the full costs incurred by families when having their first child.
“Paying the highest benefit for the first child could encourage people to start families earlier,” he said.
Lehtonen also proposed introducing an age-based element to the benefit. Under his proposal, younger parents would receive a larger sum than older ones. A report published by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health last year had suggested lowering the age of first-time mothers as a way to improve national birth rates.
Current figures show that Finland’s fertility rate remains below replacement level. According to the Statistics Finland data from 2024, the total fertility rate stood at 1.26, well below the EU average.
The government also wants to revise how child benefit is distributed between separated parents. Grahn-Laasonen confirmed that the possibility of splitting the benefit between guardians is under review.
“This would ease arrangements related to child maintenance and shared parenting in separation cases,” she said.
In addition, Grahn-Laasonen said the value of the maternity box, or “äitiyspakkaus,” should be increased when public finances allow. The box, which includes baby clothing and care items, has not been adjusted for inflation in recent years.
“The quality and number of items in the package have declined because the benefit hasn’t been updated financially,” she said.
Some changes, such as the child benefit split or updates to the maternity box, might be included in next spring’s government budget framework. Others will be left for the next government to decide.
The government already increased the child benefit for children under three years of age starting January 2024. At the same time, it removed the unemployment-related child supplement in April 2024, which had mainly supported low-income families.
In a broader policy context, Lehtonen is also proposing changes to how Kela is funded. Currently, 70 percent of its financing comes from the state, 25 percent from insurance contributions by employers and employees, and the remainder from municipalities and Kela’s investment returns.
“Rather than only discussing how Kela spends money, we should ask where that money comes from,” he said. He suggested expanding the share of insurance-based contributions to reduce the strain on the state budget.
Lehtonen, who took over the role in June, said Kela must modernise its operations by investing in technologies such as artificial intelligence. This would, according to him, increase productivity and support proactive service models.
He also expressed concerns over the complexity of Finland’s social assistance system. Individuals applying for last-resort support must often engage with multiple agencies due to overlapping conditions and eligibility rules.
“It becomes a bureaucratic maze,” Lehtonen said, pointing out that applicants may deal with as many as four separate institutions depending on their circumstances.
He said Kela should work toward simpler, unified benefit structures, potentially including a general support model that would streamline existing entitlements.
Lehtonen described Finland’s current level of social security as consistent with other Nordic countries but acknowledged that targeted reforms are needed to improve efficiency and fairness.
He plans to remain active in public discussion on social welfare and economic policy and said his leadership style will emphasise transparency and data-driven decisions.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
