I am interested in self-employment

The need for informal care may arise when someone close to you falls ill, gets older or becomes disabled, or if you have a child in need of special support. In other words, informal care recipients may be not only older people but also children and working-age people.

Situations in informal care vary depending on how much or how long your loved one needs support. You can receive informal care allowance when you conclude an informal care agreement with your municipality.

See the Carers Finland website for more information about informal carers.

Formal and informal volunteering involves ordinary non-profit work for which you are not paid. You can volunteer flexibly based on your own schedule. Even though you are not paid for this work, you can gather experience and skills that help you find employment. 

Your formal and informal volunteering may include  

• working in sports competitions or other public events, 
• working in different peer support groups,
• activities carried out through various associations, 
• participation in societal activities, or
• normal neighbourly helping or equivalent activity in which, for example, helping relatives or other people you know with your work input. 

The provision of food or other normal services during formal and informal voluntary work is not counted as a wage. Your work is also considered unpaid in situations where there is reimbursement of costs associated with participation in the voluntary work, such as tickets for public transport or the use of your own car or mobile phone. 

If you are unemployed, check the impact of volunteering on your unemployment security. If the volunteering is unpaid and ordinary non-profit work under the Unemployment Security Act, you can do it while unemployed without losing your right to unemployment security.