Kela card and coins in a wallet. Photo: Sari Gustafsson / Lehtikuva
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A limited number of social security benefits provided by Kela will increase by 0.5 percent from 1 January 2026, following an index adjustment based on the national pension index. Most benefits, however, will remain at their current levels due to a government-imposed freeze.
Kela confirmed the adjustment after setting the index value for the coming calendar year at 1,939, up from this year’s figure of 1,930. The 0.5 percent rise reflects changes in the cost-of-living index calculated by Statistics Finland.
The benefits set to increase include the national pension, guarantee pension, front-veterans’ supplements, survivor’s pensions, disability benefits, basic allowance for military assistance, the basic amount of social assistance, and the initial and annual copayment thresholds for medicines.
These adjustments are automatic for benefits tied to the national pension index, which is intended to preserve purchasing power as prices change.
However, the majority of Kela’s benefits will remain unchanged in 2026. The government has frozen index-linked increases for several categories of support for the period 2024–2027. As a result, benefits such as unemployment support, basic daily allowance, child care allowances, and study grants will not rise next year.
Also excluded from the 2026 adjustment are the minimum amounts for sickness allowance, partial sickness allowance, parental allowance, special care allowance, donor allowance, and rehabilitation allowance.
There will be no changes to the calculation basis for general housing allowance or housing allowance for pensioners.
Kela will publish updated figures for all benefit amounts and related income thresholds towards the end of 2025, after the Finnish Parliament has dealt with relevant government proposals. Among these are plans for a complete overhaul of the social assistance system set to take effect on 1 February 2026, and a new general support scheme for unemployed people, expected to start on 1 May 2026.
The index freeze forms part of the government’s broader welfare reform programme, which aims to contain costs and restructure the benefits system over the current parliamentary term.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
