The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) has slashed the unemployment benefits of 80,000 people following the introduction of a controversial, new ‘activation model’.
According to the Helsinki Times, the activation model stipulates that unemployment benefit recipients who fail to satisfy the required activity criteria will lose 4.65% of their benefits for the next 65-day monitoring period. At the end of the first 65-day monitoring period in April, just over half of recipients continued to receive their benefits in full after satisfying these criteria.
A total of 173,000 people are currently receiving unemployment benefits from Kela. Roughly 26,000 of those who retained full eligibility did so by reporting earnings they received via either employment or self-employment. The remaining 68,000 satisfied the criteria by participating in activities designed to improve their employment prospects. An extra 4,600 were exempt from the activity criteria altogether.
Kela claims that the much-criticised new system should result in an increase in the number of people receiving the basic income allowance.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) has slashed the unemployment benefits of 80,000 people following the introduction of a controversial, new ‘activation model’.
According to the Helsinki Times, the activation model stipulates that unemployment benefit recipients who fail to satisfy the required activity criteria will lose 4.65% of their benefits for the next 65-day monitoring period. At the end of the first 65-day monitoring period in April, just over half of recipients continued to receive their benefits in full after satisfying these criteria.
A total of 173,000 people are currently receiving unemployment benefits from Kela. Roughly 26,000 of those who retained full eligibility did so by reporting earnings they received via either employment or self-employment. The remaining 68,000 satisfied the criteria by participating in activities designed to improve their employment prospects. An extra 4,600 were exempt from the activity criteria altogether.
Kela claims that the much-criticised new system should result in an increase in the number of people receiving the basic income allowance.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
