How long the earnings-related allowance lasts
Your unemployment fund pays for a fixed number of days, and the amount drops twice along the way.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
The earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha) from a Finnish unemployment fund lasts 300 paid days if you have worked a total of 3 years or less since turning 17, and 400 days with a longer work history. Only people who meet the employment condition at 58 or older, with at least five years of work in the past 20, get 500 days. Payment covers 5 days a week, so 400 days is about 19 months of full unemployment. Since September 2024 the amount steps down twice: after 40 paid days you receive 80% of your original allowance, and after 170 days 75%. On a €3,000 salary that means €1,738, then €1,391, then €1,304 a month before tax. The step-down never pushes you below the base part of €37.21 a day. When your days run out, Kela’s general support (yleistuki) takes over; extension days exist only for people born between 1957 and 1964.
Step-down and duration
Total over the whole period
€26,864
| Days 1 to 40 | €1,825 |
| Days 41 to 170 | €1,460 |
| Days 171 to 400 | €1,369 |
| Maximum | 400 days |
Which maximum applies to you
The fund looks at how many years you have worked since your 17th birthday. Up to 3 years gives 300 paid days; more than that gives 400. The 500-day maximum is only for people whose employment condition is met at 58 or older and who have at least five years of work within the last 20. Years are added up across employers and need not be consecutive. For someone who moved to Finland mid-career, the Finnish work record is what the fund sees first, so ask your fund how earlier work abroad is treated.
Days are paid days, not calendar days. A fully unemployed member is paid for 5 days a week, so 300 days last about 14.0 months and 400 days about 18.6 months. The first 7 days of each period are an unpaid waiting period (omavastuuaika).
The two step-downs
The step-down (porrastus) has applied since 2 September 2024. The first 40 paid days are at the full rate. After that the whole allowance is 80% of the original, and from day 171 it is 75%. Both percentages are taken from the original full amount. The base part is protected, so a low earner’s allowance stops falling at €37.21 a day.
| Salary/month | Days 1–40 | 41–170 | 171 on | Total 300 days | Total 400 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €2,000 | €1,306 | €1,044 | €979 | €14,664 | €19,218 |
| €3,000 | €1,738 | €1,391 | €1,304 | €19,526 | €25,590 |
| €4,000 | €2,093 | €1,674 | €1,570 | €23,511 | €30,813 |
| €5,000 | €2,285 | €1,828 | €1,714 | €25,671 | €33,643 |
The monthly figures match the 2026 allowance table published by TYJ, the funds’ cooperation body, to the euro. The totals show the real value of the period: on €3,000 the extra 100 days add €6,064, all paid at the lowest step.
The step-down in daily euros
Funds pay per day, so the cleanest way to see the cut is the daily figure. A €3,000 monthly salary gives a full allowance of €80.85 a day, then €64.68, then €60.64. Monthly totals are those daily sums multiplied by 21.5, so a month with more weekdays pays slightly more.
Low salaries hit the floor quickly
| Salary/month | Full | 80% | 75% |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,000 | €866 | €800 | €800 |
| €1,300 | €1,003 | €802 | €800 |
| €1,500 | €1,089 | €871 | €817 |
At €1,000 the allowance is already capped at 90% of the daily wage, so both steps stop at the floor of €800. At €1,300 the first step practically reaches it. Only from about €1,500 upward does the second step take a further bite. Part-time workers on low pay therefore lose far less to the step-down than the percentages suggest.
Planning around the drops
The biggest fall comes early. On €3,000 the first step takes €348 off your monthly income, and the second removes another €87. That often lands just as your notice-period pay and holiday compensation have been spent. If you rent alone, this is the moment to check Kela’s housing allowance and general support rules: a smaller allowance can bring you under the housing income limit.
Tax deserves a look too. If you use a tax card calculated for wages, at least 25% is withheld from the allowance. After the step-downs that is often more than the year’s real tax, so a new tax card estimating the year’s real income keeps more money in your account each month instead of in next year’s refund.
Short jobs do not reset the clock
A few months of work in between does not restart the count: the days already paid stay on your record. A fresh period with a new full rate starts only after 12 months of work paying at least €930 each, and the allowance is then recalculated from the new salary. The rules for counting those months are on the employment condition page.
After the last day
Once the maximum is reached, members born in 1965 or later move to Kela’s general support at €37.21 a day, the same as the base part. Extension days (lisäpäivät) are limited to people born between 1957 and 1964. Time on the allowance still accrues earnings-related pension: 1.5% a year on 75% of the salary behind your allowance. On €3,000, a year of unemployment adds about €405 to your annual pension, against €540 for a year of work. The pension calculator shows what that gap means at retirement.
Put your own salary into the unemployment allowance calculator. Sources: TYJ, step-down rules, TYJ, how the allowance is calculated and Unemployment Security Act 1290/2002.