Kela guidelines reveal impact of children’s bank accounts on social assistance benefits in Finland

According to internal guidelines from Kela, Finland’s social insurance institution, even small amounts of money in a child’s bank account can reduce a family’s social assistance benefits. Yle received access to previously confidential documents that detail instructions for benefit adjudicators when making assistance determinations.

While Kela states there is no definitive limit on how much money a child can have without affecting benefits, examples suggest thresholds around 100 to 200 euros. For instance, if a child from a family of four has 57.01 euros in their account, this is considered negligible and does not impact social assistance. However, if they have 242.98 euros, it reduces the family’s benefits.

Kela provides its employees with a 233-page public benefits guide for making decisions, which is available on its website. In addition to this, staff members have access to internal guidelines, trainings, and specific cases marked as “restricted publication.” Kela officials, including benefits manager Marja-Leena Valkonen, explained that these guidelines are not officially secret but are intended for internal use to aid benefit experts.

Valkonen emphasized that Kela examines all household income and resources, including children’s bank accounts, as mandated by law. The specifics around evaluating children’s funds will influence social assistance calculations, although they cannot be used to cover general family expenses.

Last year, approximately 387,000 people in Finland received social assistance, with total expenditures amounting to 778 million euros. As of this year, the basic amount for a single individual stands at 587.71 euros per month.