Financial aid for students with a family

If you are pregnant, study full-time and receive a study grant, you may also receive a pregnancy allowance for 40 working days. Saturdays are also included in working days.

If caring for your child does not affect your studies, you may receive parental allowance in addition to the study grant. In this case, the study grant does not affect the amount of your parental allowance.

Notify Kela if your studies are full-time, that is, your studies do not take place while you care for your child. By doing this, you will receive the right amount of parental allowance.

If you only work on Sundays and on mid-week holidays, the employment income will not affect your parental allowance.

If you work no more than five hours a day, you may receive partial parental allowance.

If you work more than five hours a day, you are not eligible for parental allowance.

Yes. A student who receives student financial aid and has a dependant aged under 18 is entitled to a provider supplement paid by Kela. It is paid in addition to the study grant. The number of children does not affect the amount. Kela pays the provider supplement automatically when the details of the guardianship are in the Population Information System. 

If you are a student and live in the same apartment with your own or your partner's child, you can apply for general housing allowance instead of the student housing supplement. The housing allowance is granted jointly to the whole household.

If you have previously received a student housing supplement, after the birth of a child you must apply for general housing allowance instead of a housing supplement.

After a new child is born to your family, you should apply for a review of the housing allowance. The amount of the housing allowance may change when the size of your household and your income change.

If you study as an apprentice without pay (training agreement), you are entitled to student and family benefits just like any other student. 

If your employer pays you a salary (apprenticeship), you are entitled to student benefits for the dates you study at your educational institution. If you are a student with a family, you can also apply to the education provider for a family benefit if you suffer a loss of income during the time you study at the institution.

You can get a single-parent supplement to child benefit even if you and the child’s other parent have joint custody. If the other parent does not pay maintenance to you or the amount is too small, you may get maintenance allowance. If you are on a low income, you may also be entitled to a housing allowance.

Child home care allowance or private day care allowance does not prevent you from receiving student financial aid. However, note that they are income that is taken into account in the annual income limit concerning student financial aid. You can get a child home care allowance or private day care allowance if you child is not in municipal day care.

The amount of the day-care fee is determined by the family’s total gross income and the size of the family. When you apply for a place in day care for your child, you have to provide documents showing all the income your family has, for example the student financial aid received by the parents. Parents on a high income pay more for the day care of their children than parents on a low income. Parents with the lowest income do not pay anything for the place in day care.