Childcare and early education in Finland

The first thing you may want to know if you are raising children in Finland is that this is a country where parental leave (vanhempainvapaa) is taken seriously and applied equally to both sexes. You can look after your kid at home, as the majority of parents do until it is around nine months old (when the parental leave ends). But if you want, you or your hired caregiver can continue doing so until your kid's third birthday and still receive some child care benefits. As for daycare, you can choose between municipal and private, but what you need to understand is that it goes way further than just childcare: daycare in Finland is more like early education (varhaiskasvatus). Kids in daycare centres enjoy games, sports, music, crafts and excursions, take naps and have meals, learn social skills and can even get some help with learning Finnish or Swedish, when needed.

Daycare in Finland

In order to apply for municipal daycare for your child (and you should do that 4 months before the parental leave period ends, because the process takes time), you need to have a municipality of residence in Finland. But even if you don't, you can still apply -- you will just be considered a resident of the municipality in which you currently live. This is important, because every municipality has different 'rules' when it comes to children's early education and, subsequently, different fees (although by law, the maximum daycare fee for one kid can be no more than 290 euros monthly). For instance, in some of them your kid may be eligible to full-time daycare even if you or your partner/spouse is at home, whereas in others if one of you is at home, your kid is entitled to only 20 hours of daycare per week. To apply for municipal daycare you can go to:

• a day care centre (päiväkoti), where groups of up to 24 children are looked after by a staff of 3-4 people
• a group family day care (ryhmäperhepäivähoito), where groups of up to 4 children are looked after by 2 or 3 people
• or a family day care (perhepäivähoito), where a group of up to 4 children are looked after by a care provider in his or her own home.

If you don't manage to get municipal daycare, then there are always private daycare options, structured very similarly to the municipal ones: day care centres, family day care centres, care providers looking after your kid at their own home or yours. Just be aware that if you choose the last option and hire a child carer to work in your home, you are basically becoming an employer. The costs vary depending on the option you choose and in some cases you can even get some private day care allowance from Kela, which would make the final cost for you almost the same as if you'd gotten municipal daycare. To apply for the allowance though, you do need to have a municipality of residence -- you can find more information on that at the links at the bottom of the article.

International schools

There are many international schools in Finland, where your child can be taught in English, amongst students from all over the world. These schools usually follow an International Baccalaureate (IB) or Cambridge International Examinations model and their curriculum can be different from the one followed by Finnish schools. Some international schools are government subsidised and require entrance exams, whereas others are completely private. The age limit varies as well: some offer admission from preschool age onwards whereas others are only for upper secondary school students. There's probably an international school in your area, but if you live near the capital you should definitely check out the International School of Helsinki.

How to adopt in Finland

Although adoption is never an easy process in any country, Finland at least makes sure you have help in every step of the way. To begin with, adoption counselling. You get counselling for free (and it's mandatory) at your local municipal social services department or one of the regional offices of Save the Children. During counselling, they will assert whether you're actually capable and ready to become an adoptive parent and then help you choose an adoption service provider and connect you with a social worker who will do a 'home study' on your family background, health, financial situation etc. Once the study is complete, it will be sent to the adoption service provider you chose and then you can apply for an adoption permit. The service provider then takes over, from supplying you with information on the children who are available for adoption internationally, to helping you get an intercountry adoption permit, send your papers to the country you chose to adopt from and help you with your visits to the country and all the follow-up papers required to complete the process. Your adoption permit goes through the Finnish Adoption Board and, if granted, is valid for two years.

Once the adoption process is completed, there will be some follow-up counselling for the child and you (by the same social worker who provided the counselling in the beginning) and reports of the child's progress will be sent to their country of origin. Then, you'll get post-adoption service for the following years, which will help the kid obtain any information for themselves they might need, but also help you manage that information.

Useful links:

Private daycare allowance
Early childhood education information
Finnish immigration service: Adoption information