Basic amount of social aid to reduce for adults from March 1

The basic amount of social assistance for all persons aged 18 and over will be reduced by 2% to 3% as of 1 March, said the Social Insurance Institution-Kela in a press release on Monday.

The amount will be reduced following amendment to the social assistance law brought by the four-party alliance government led by conservative Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP).

The government reduced the social assistance, the last-resort of assistance for the low- income people as a part of its austerity measures to cut expenditure by EUR 70 million.

The new law regarding social assistance entered into force at the beginning of February, 2026.

The basic amount of persons aged 18 or over who are living alone or living with their parents will be cut by 3% and the basic amount of other persons aged 18 or over by 2%.

For example, if the recipient is 18 years old or over and lives alone, the basic amount will be about EUR 18 per month less than before.

However, the reform also seeks to improve the employment rate and boost public finances. The goal is for the reform to help reduce social assistance expenditure by EUR 70 million.

Earlier in May, 2025 the government took the initiative to tighten social assistance.

In April 2024, the government cut unemployment, housing, other benefits.