Government proposal on additional child benefit submitted to Parliament

The Government proposes that an additional child benefit be paid to all child benefit recipients in December 2022. The additional child benefit would not be taken into account when calculating recipients’ social assistance.

To increase the purchasing power of families with children, recipients of the child benefit would be paid double the amount of child benefit in December 2022.  The bonus child benefit to be paid in December 2022 would be equal to the child benefit normally granted to a parent or other person who has custody of a child. The amount to be paid would thus depend on the number of children. The single-parent increment would also be increased.

The additional child benefit would not be taken into account when determining the amount of social assistance a recipient is entitled to. This is to ensure that recipients of basic social assistance would benefit fully from the assistance.

“In its budget session, the Government decided on several measures to boost purchasing power aimed especially at low-income households and families with children as living costs increase. With regard to the additional child benefit, it is important to ensure that the lowest-income households also receive social assistance in full,” says Minister of Social Affairs and Health Hanna Sarkkinen. 

The proposal is related to the fourth supplementary budget proposal for 2022 and is intended to be considered in conjunction with it. 

The acts would be in force from 1 to 31 December 2022.

Inquiries:

Eva Ojala, Ministerial Adviser, [email protected]

• Governemnt proposal (in Finnish)