{"id":16265,"date":"2026-02-17T13:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16265\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T13:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:47:08","slug":"finland-to-restrict-home-care-benefit-as-purra-calls-for-work-requirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16265\/","title":{"rendered":"Finland to restrict home care benefit as Purra calls for work requirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finland\u2019s government has agreed to restrict access to the home care allowance for some immigrants, according to Finnish news outlets including Iltalehti<\/a>\u00a0and Yle<\/a>. The reform forms part of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo\u2019s integration programme.<\/p>\n

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Under the proposal, a parent who has lived in Finland for less than three years after the age of 16 will not receive the benefit if they stay at home to care for a child.<\/p>\n

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According to the news outlets, the three-year residence requirement will also count time spent in another EU or EEA state or in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

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The restriction will apply only to the parent who has moved to Finland. It will not apply to both parents.<\/p>\n

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In single-parent families, the requirement will concern the parent living with the child.<\/p>\n

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The change will enter into force on 1 July 2026. It will affect those who move to Finland after the law takes effect.<\/p>\n

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According to information first reported by Iltalehti, the reform reflects what ministers have described as a \u201cNorwegian model\u201d, where access to certain family benefits links to prior residence.<\/p>\n

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The Swedish People\u2019s Party had raised concerns that a broader restriction would lead to situations in which a Finnish parent lost support due to their partner\u2019s background.<\/p>\n

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The government states that the amendment forms part of a wider effort to differentiate social security for immigrants and permanent residents within constitutional limits.<\/p>\n

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Constitutional scrutiny delayed the proposal. Ministers reviewed the equality provisions and the right to basic social security before finalising the draft.<\/p>\n

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The bill will go to parliament this spring.<\/p>\n

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Earlier in February, Finance Minister and\u00a0leader of the Finns Party\u00a0Riikka Purra\u00a0proposed in\u00a0comments to the media that immigrants should work without pay as a condition for receiving certain social benefits.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn Denmark, social welfare, especially last-resort support, is tied to a 37.5-hour weekly work requirement,\u201d Purra said in an interview with Suomen Uutiset<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe obligation applies especially to foreigners and involves simple tasks, such as cleaning or gathering twigs, which do not displace any actual jobs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Purra later wrote on X<\/a> that some immigrants take low-paid jobs to secure residence and then leave work because \u201cit does not pay in relation to social security\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Her remarks drew criticism from opposition politicians and members of the governing National Coalition Party.<\/p>\n

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Former Helsinki mayor Juhana Vartiainen, from the National Coalition Party, wrote on X<\/a> that the same incentive problems apply to Finnish citizens.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat is why reform of social security and labour legislation is necessary in any case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Denmark expanded its work requirement last summer.<\/p>\n

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The scheme applies to people who have lived in Denmark for fewer than nine of the past ten years and who have worked less than 2.5 years full-time.<\/p>\n

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Participants must complete up to 37 hours a week of assigned activity to receive benefits.<\/p>\n

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Municipalities organise tasks. They include waste collection, sorting donated clothes and assisting in care homes.<\/p>\n

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Part of the weekly requirement can consist of language classes or job search conducted under supervision.<\/p>\n

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In Finland, the constitution guarantees everyone the right to essential subsistence.<\/p>\n

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Research Professor Pasi Moisio of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare told Helsingin Sanomat<\/a> that transferring the Danish model to Finland would prove difficult.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe constitution and its interpretation grant immigrants a strong right to last-resort social security,\u201d Moisio said.<\/p>\n

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He added that Denmark has broader employment and integration services.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn Finland, social security focuses on passive income transfers. There are fewer obligations or service opportunities,\u201d Moisio said.<\/p>\n

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HT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finland\u2019s government has agreed to restrict access to the home care allowance for some immigrants, according to Finnish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[11826,11824,158,113,11823,8661,6658,3926,8558,11827,305,11825,11828],"class_list":["post-16265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-constitution","tag-danish-model","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-home-care-allowance","tag-immigrants","tag-kokoomus","tag-petteri-orpo","tag-riikka-purra","tag-rkp","tag-sdp","tag-social-benefits","tag-thl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}