Kela notes decline in proportion of foreign-language speakers receiving benefits
Finland's key income security benefits include basic social assistance, parental allowances, the general housing allowance and pensions.
Finland's social insurance agency Kela reported a decline in the proportion of foreign-language speakers receiving social and jobless benefits, despite a significant increase in their population. In 2017, Kela paid out 8.6 billion euros in key benefits, with 15% going to non-Finnish speakers. By 2024, total payouts rose to 9.2 billion euros, with foreign-language speakers receiving 20%—roughly 1.8 billion euros.
Kela noted that during this period, Finland's foreign-language-speaking population grew by more than 70%, from 373,000 in 2017 to 646,000 in 2024. The proportion of foreign-language speakers receiving basic social assistance and general housing allowance has decreased, while the share receiving guarantee and national pensions remained stable. Research chief Signe Jauhiainen attributed the development to changes in the demographic structure.
Written by urgent.news from Yle News Finland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
