Balancing family life and work

In many families in Finland, both parents work. If your family has young children, you can usually get time off to take care of them. In addition, both public and private early childhood education is high-quality and affordable. You can also apply for an allowance from Kela if you take care of a child at home or hire a carer for the child.

Public early childhood education is high-quality because the day-care centres and schools have highly trained and professional staff taking care of your child. The teachers and day-care workers support the child’s development and learning of Finnish or Swedish. Larger cities also have English-language day-care centres and schools, for example.

Read more about the organisation of child care in Finland on the InfoFinland page Financial support for families and Early childhood education.

In Finland, most women work even if they have young children. As a woman, you do not need permission from your spouse or parents to work or study. If both parents of the family work, they have a more stable financial situation.

Read more about the rights of women and men in Finland on the InfoFinland page Working without discrimination.

If you have not had a job in a long time or have stayed home to take care of your children, it may feel difficult to start working again. In Finland, you do not have to worry about it alone, your locality’s counsellors or TE services can help you with job-hunting. With their help, you can consider your opportunities to get further training or learn a new trade, search for a suitable Finnish or Swedish language course or write a job application and CV. If you want to learn a new trade, you may be entitled to student financial aid.

You can find more information about counselling services in InfoFinland on your city’s page under Cities and about student financial aid on the page Financing your studies.

You can find tips for finding work on the InfoFinland page Find a job in Finland.

You can find advice for education and training on the InfoFinland page Applying for education and training.

You can find tips for studying Finnish or Swedish on the page Finnish and Swedish.