Kela made a mistake, our child has to suffer - Kela teki virheen ja lapsemme saa kärsiä

If you live in Finland, have you ever had problems with Kela?
Many of my friends have. And often rather serious problems.

Our problem, in short, is that Kela made a mistake, and does not seem to want to correct it, so we, and especially our upcoming child , have to suffer.

First, what is Kela?
It is the instituition which takes care of the social welfare.

I will put the links below soon for the emails exchange we have had with Kela. So you can get a better understanding of the whole case. If Kela or anyone suspects we are lying or making up the story, by going through all these trouble, and to this length, when the official due day of the baby is in 1.5 weeks, feel free to call the police.

The events in this case are simple as such,

1. We got pregnant. Jiippi!
2. Since my wife is a private entreprenuer, she asked her accountant what she should do with her taxation and salary, so she can be a normal mother with normal maternal leave when the baby is born, getting subsidize from the state which is about 1600 euros netto a month.
3. The accountant called Kela for, stayed clearly that my wife is a private and single entreprenuer who pays minimal YEL and so on. The answer and instruction was that my wife can CHOOSE and RAISE EITHER the SALARY or YEL payment.
4. As the relay of information from the accountant was clear, (hey come on, EITHER OR), my wife chose to raise the salary part, and acted accordingly to the instruction given by Kela.
5. Early in June, decision from Kela about the maternal payment (äityispäiväraha) came. And it says, since the YEL payment has not been paid sufficiently, my wife will receive only the minimal amount of maternal payment, namely some 250 euros netto a month.
7. As the difference and result is so different, we asked the accountant and Kela what has gone wrong. As the accountant only relayed the information, then it is Kela that we most focused to get an answer.
8. The conclusion is, as Kela silently admits, that their employer gave wrong information to our accountant, and hence to us.
9. In the exchange of emails and face-to-face discussion, Kela personnels have only given us bureaucratic answers and feedbacks that this case does not go anywhere. We can sure file a complain but the process will take many many months, and the chance of seeing a favourable result is very little. Other alternatives to deal with the case at hand has likely little effect on the current decision.
10. After evaluating the situation, we came to the conclusion that, my wife will need to go back to work pretty much after the baby delivery. The financial plan, which we have done according to the instruction Kela gave months ago, simply cannot be realised, and we cannot support the baby and other finance burden having my wife not working.

Now when we have talked to some rather big boss and other officials within Kela, all we have got is the same kind of indifference and message that nothing can be done. In between the lines the message they seem to tell us basically is "Don't even bother complaining, it will be no use, just give up, and go home, and suffer a bit."

The fact is my wife will have to start working already right after the delivery instead of staying with the child. The time that the newborn child is entitled to share with the mother will be taken away simply because Kela did a mistake and they even do not want to acknowledge it!

In other words, by making the mistake and not correcting it, Kela simply forces the mother to work right after delivery and be away from the child. Note that, Kela does not deny such a mistake has been made, disregarding whether the personnel who gave the wrong information is identified or not.

We noticed the basic law of child protection in Finland. And it says that a child has a right to have a safe environment to grow up. Well, already being forced to be separated from the mother in the early months, it does not sound a very safe environment to begin with, does it?!

I just cannot help wondering if any other people in this country has had similar problems. Now when I have talked with many friends and people, the picture I have is that no matter what fight you have with Kela, they always win.

So what we have learnt quickly now here?
If you think about being a private entrepreneur, especially as a woman, think twice, really.
Or if you plan to have a child in this country, think also well.
Or then if you simply think that when you pay a lot of tax here in Finland, you will be covered by social benefits when you really need it, well, think again!
The fact we have noticed is, Kela does not seem to want to help you out genuinely. It is pretty much simply a gigantic bureaucracy in which the problems and mistakes do not seem to exist, or at least they never want to acknowledge them nor correct them.

It feels like we are being robbed in board daylight, and nobody, nobody cares about this. And the robber happens to be the state, the state institution of Finland!

One thing I'd much like to ask these officials, as they likely have kids, is what they would tell their children, or we tell our child, that if you make a mistake, if it is fine just to try to cover it and wish it disappear? Is it like those monkey statues tourists often buy from China, that do not hear, do not see, do not speak about. Is this the system we live with in Finland?

And about our child, what should we tell him/her? That mother has to be away because Kela forced her to? That do not ever rely on the state and social benefit? DO NOT EVER think about fighting bureaucracy? And do not ever think that, even in this country of Finland, when you pay a lot of taxes, you would be covered by the social welfare when you most need it? Or simply that shit happens, shut up now?!

A friend of mine is a son of a popular politician. He and I had a long talk. His father is a personal friend of the head of Kela. My friend told me frankly that we had better not to spend the energy and time to fight this fight. It would be like banging our heads to a stone wall for months and months. It is just simply better to walk away and live our life with the newborn baby as if nothing has happened.

Maybe we simply should tell our child and ourselves that the bureaucrats, for their sheer size and power, can pretty much do whatever they want. And that we might just as well talk about this with the Chinese embassy and get the citizenship for the child fast, sell our house and move our business away from this country. For this kind of bureaucracy and "fairness" is easily found in China just as well.


What about the state, parliament and the policiticans who promised you this and that before the election? What do they really say about this, if anything at all? That is for the next episode. Stay toned. And if you have any similar experience, please share with us.