Kela rises child support, maintenance allowance in Jan

The national social insurance institution- Kela will increase the amounts of child support and child maintenance allowance payments on January 1, 2023 in response to the rise in the Cost-of-Living Index, said Kela in a press release on Friday.

Child support payments and child maintenance allowances are linked to the Cost-of-Living Index, which will rise by about 8.33 % on 1 January 2023.

Starting from that date, the full child maintenance allowance will be EUR 186.97 per month per child. The full amount is currently EUR 172.59 per month, which means that the monthly allowance will increase by EUR 14.38.

Due to the rise in the Cost-of-Living Index, also the amounts of child support payable will go up.

If the difference between the child support due and the full child maintenance allowance is paid by Kela, Kela will notify the liable person of the new amount of the child support in a letter.

In other situations, the liable person can check the new amount of the child support in the OmaKela e-service in the beginning of January 2023 at the latest.

The income limits to qualify for an exemption on child support debt will be adjusted as well. Persons liable for maintenance qualify for the exemption if their monthly income does not exceed EUR 1,263.43.

The income limit goes up by EUR 315.86 per month for each additional child. However, the income limit is not increased for children who have been granted child maintenance allowance.