Finnish Family Support

Thanks to Finnish family support system I was able to spend four year home with my kids and get paid for it. With my first born I returned to work when she was one year old, because her Dad was studying. She has a super-Dad. He took care of her while studying for ten months, so that we didn't have to put her to a day-care.

After our second child was born, I stayed home until he turned three years. If you are working before your maternity leave, maternity and parental allowance are fairly good amount of money (related to your salary). But when it comes to child home care allowance (after the child is nine months), allowance drops and it is a little bit more than "a pocket money".

This information is from Kela's internet page:

Maternity leave

Maternity leave starts before the child's estimated date of delivery. You start your maternity leave at least 30 working days (about 5 weeks) before the estimated date of delivery. If you wish, you can start maternity leave earlier, starting 50 working days (just over 2 months) before the estimated date of delivery at the earliest. You can choose yourself when to start your maternity leave. When you start maternity leave, Kela will pay you maternity allowance. 

Parental leave for mother or father

Parental leave starts after maternity leave. For the duration of parental leave, Kela pays 158 working days of parental allowance, which is just over 6 months. The child is about 9 months old when the parental allowance ends.

Paternal leave

The father can take the following leave after the child is born:

1. paternity leave for a maximum 54 working days
2. parental leave after the mother's maternity leave (the leave can also be shared with the mother, but you cannot take it at the same time).
3. child care leave after parental leave.
4. part-time child care leave if you return to work part time.

After parental leave

The child is about 9 months old when the parental leave ends. After the leave

1. the father can take paternity leave and receive an allowance from Kela. 
2. the mother, father or another carer may stay at home to look after a child under 3 years of age and receive child home care allowance. Kela will not pay an allowance for the home care of a child over 3 years of age unless there are younger siblings under 3 years of age in the family.

... and then there are more options if you return to work at this point. Which I don't recommend... My opinion is that it serves a child's best interest if his/her parent is his/her primary care giver  until he/she turns two years. If it is possible. Two first years are the most important years for kids' future development.

And what is this KELA? Supervised by the Finnish Parliament, Kela is an independent social security institution with its own administration and finances. The parliamentary supervision is exercised by a group of Trustees appointed by Parliament.