Are you under 25 and with no vocational skills education beyond comprehensive school or upper secondary school? Slightly abnormal provisions on unemployment benefits apply to you. The situation changes when you have acquired vocational education or training or participate in services that promote employment.
Services promoting employment include:
You must be at least 25 years old to start independent studies supported by an unemployment benefit.
If you are under 17 years of age you are not entitled to a labour market subsidy for the time that you are unemployed or taking part in services that promote employment.
When you turn 17 you will be entitled to a labour market subsidy for the time that you participate in a service that promotes employment, but not for your time of unemployment in other respects.
At the age of 18 you can receive a labour market subsidy also for your time of unemployment if you meet the other preconditions for a labour market subsidy.
If you are entitled to a basic unemployment allowance from Kela or an unemployment-related daily allowance from an unemployment fund, this allowance can be paid to you, both for your time of unemployment, and for the time that you participate in services promoting employment, once you have turned 17.
If you are under 25 years of age and you have not completed post-primary or post-secondary education leading to a qualification and providing vocational skills, proceed as follows:
If reasons related to matters such as your state of health or language skills, prevent you from applying to study, discuss the matter with an expert from your TE office. In such a situation, it is possible to agree that the obligation to apply to study can be met in some other way, than the one described above. You can also compensate not applying for training by agreeing that you will participate in another service.
If you are still unemployed at the beginning of the autumn term, inform the TE Office of the places you have applied to. If you have not applied for a training without a valid reason, you will lose your entitlement to unemployment benefit from the beginning of the autumn term, i.e. from 1 September, indefinitely.
You will also lose your unemployment benefit indefinitely, if you turn down a place to study without a valid reason, you do not start the studies, or you discontinue studies that lead to a degree, give professional competence, or comprise upper secondary school studies for young people.
To receive an unemployment benefit you are not required to apply in the autumn for education that begins in the spring. However, if you do apply for education in the autumn and you receive a place to study, but fail to start your studies in the spring, you will lose your right to unemployment benefits indefinitely.
Your right to an unemployment benefit will be restored if one of the following criteria is fulfilled:
If you have lost your right to an unemployment benefit as described above, you will still receive an unemployment benefit during the service if you participate in
Kela may assign you a waiting period for labour market subsidy, only after which, you will be entitled to labour market subsidy. The maximum length of the waiting period is 21 weeks.
Eligibility requirements for applicants under 25 years (kela.fi)