Child home care allowance

Number of child home care allowance recipients almost at the previous year’s level

Last October–December, a total of 14,700 households received child home care allowance in the Helsinki region. The number did not change much from the previous year (-1 per cent). In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, the number of recipients decreased by two per cent, and in the KUUMA municipalities, it increased by three per cent. In October–December, the number of families receiving child home care allowance was 5,700 in Helsinki, 3,200 in Espoo, 2,700 in Vantaa and 3,100 in the KUUMA municipalities.

Although the number remained almost unchanged in the Helsinki region compared to the previous year, the number of families receiving the allowance continues to decrease, both in the Helsinki region and in the whole country. The number of children cared for with the help of child home care allowance has also fallen when compared to the total number of children. There are many reasons behind the decreasing number of child home care allowance recipients. For example, the general goal of increasing the participation rate in early childhood education and the various free early childhood education pilots related to the goal have probably reduced the use of child home care allowance in recent years. Cuts to municipal supplements to home care allowance might also have affected the popularity of child home care allowance.

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