Finland urged to abolish home care allowance, replace with extended parental leave

A government-commissioned report recommends scrapping Finland’s current home care allowance and replacing it with an expanded parental leave system, state broadcaster Yle reported Monday.

The study, ordered by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, proposes extending parental leave by granting each parent an additional period of several months. The replacement benefit would be uniform and set at a higher level than the existing home care allowance.

A working group—including Johanna Lammi-Taskula of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), University of Turku professor Marika Jalovaara, and Anneli Miettinen of the Social Insurance Institution (Kela)—conducted the review, which was published Monday.

The ministry had requested the assessment last autumn to evaluate reforms to parental leave and home care support systems.