The Social Insurance Institution of Finland’s (Kela) logo on the entrance of a service point in Kamppi, Helsinki, on 9 October 2024. According to Helsingin Sanomat, a growing number of households have faced cuts in social assistance due to their housing costs exceeding the municipality-specific limit. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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RECENT REVISIONS to the rules for granting social assistance toward housing costs have already had a significant impact, reveal data compiled for Helsingin Sanomat by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).
Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday reported that scores of social assistance recipients have been instructed to find more affordable housing on grounds that their housing costs exceed the municipality-specific limit for reasonable housing costs. The assistance, it added, has been slashed for thousands of recipients who have refused to comply with the instructions.
The Finnish government converted the municipality-specific limits for reasonable housing costs from effectively from non-prescriptive to prescriptive under a decree issued in April 2024.
Officials at Kela have consequently adopted a stricter approach to implementing the limits. Households with housing costs exceeding the limit in their municipality will be instructed to find more affordable housing within three months; a failure to do so may result in a cut in social assistance corresponding with the difference between their housing costs and the limit.
The decree has resulted in a noticeable up-tick in the number of social assistance cuts, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
In December, over 43,000 social assistance recipients had housing costs that exceeded the limit in their municipality of recipients. The assistance has been reduced for about 60 per cent of them, a sharp increase from the roughly 20 per cent of households who faced cuts prior to the decree coming into effect.
One-person households have been particularly affected.
The rest have been granted partial or full compensation for excessive housing costs. The compensation can be granted on special grounds, such as the interests of an underage member of the household, the need for extra space stemming from disability, the poor health of the applicant or their family member or advanced age.
The government has estimated that the revisions will generate annual cost savings of roughly 21.5–24.5 million euros.
It is also mulling over other cuts in social assistance. A government-appointed task force proposed last month that the basic component of social assistance be cut more readily in circumstances where the recipient has, for example, neglected their obligation to apply for work or participate in training promoting their employment prospects.
In 2023, Finland disbursed a total of 778 million euros in social assistance to around 387,000 people.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
