Student with a family

Home care allowance

Kela can pay home care allowance for

• a child under 3-years-old who does not have a reserved place in municipal day care
• a child over 3-years-old, if there is a child under 3-years-old in the family who is receiving home care allowance
• an adopted child

Kela: Child care allowances ›

Municipal day care services

To get to municipal day care, one must apply there four months in advance before the actual need for services (in the case of sudden employment or study placement the time span is two weeks). Municipal day care includes kindergarten care, group family day care, family day care in a caretakers’ home or open early childhood education activity centres. The scope of the care can be full-time or part-time (max 5 h per day). In Tampere, it is also possible to agree on lesser need in the day care (10 days per month/15 days per month). The days agreed must be enforced for 5 months minimum. Day care service fees are determined in the terms of width and need for the care. Day care fees are determined on the basis of the total income and the size of the family.

City of Tampere: Early childhood education ›

Private day care services

You can apply financial support for the private day care services in the following day care forms: kindergarten, group family day care,  family day care in a caretakers’ home or hiring a caretaker to your home. The financial support includes nursing reimbursement, municipal supplement and a possible income-based supplement. In Tampere, getting the municipal supplement requires more than 25 hours per week need for day care. The amount of the municipal supplement is determined on the basis of the care taking form and the age of the child. Private day care financial support will not be paid on a time shorter than one month period.

Vouchers can be applied for voucher day care institutions and kindergartens. The value of the voucher is determined on the same basis than the customer fees of a municipal day care. You can only apply for the voucher after the place from a voucher day care institute or kindergarten has been confirmed. Allowance certificates must be attached to the application. The family will (in addition to the excess share of the voucher) have to pay for the possible difference between the price determined by the producer of the caretaking service and the maximum value of the voucher.

Please note that children can only use one of the subjective day care options at a time. If the child commences in a municipal day care, the family will not get home care allowance anymore. Also private day care financial support and voucher suspend the right to home care allowance. The duty of the family is to notify Kela about the changes affecting home care allowance.

City of Tampere: Private day care and other day care forms ›

The Äidikepalvelu Child Nursing Service of YWCA of Tampere

The Äidikepalvelu Child Nursing Service was started in 1972. It provides temporary help in child nursing for families and single parents. The service is safe, effortless and tax deductible. The service takes care of all employee payments. The service is ordered from a call center that finds the most suitable nurse for the client and sends her to the family. Each nurse has done a course in child nursing. They are all women and most of them are middle-aged. The services are provided in Finnish.

When ordered a nurse, one should give the nurse clear caring instructions. Also, the client should spare a good amount of time to discuss prior and past the nursing. The main duty of the nurse is to take care of the child/children. If needed, she may prepare a snack or a meal. When the nurse is on duty for a whole day, the client (family) must provide her meals. In case of nursing a sick child, the other children of the family should go to their normal place of daycare.

Äidikepalvelu › (in Finnish)

Maternity and child health services

The maternity clinics in the Tampere region serve families during pregnancy, birth and the time shortly after the birth. The maternity clinic services are free of charge for pregnant and delivered mothers, fathers and new-born babies registered in the Tampere region. The clinics aim to prevent and treat the health hazards for the mother and the baby, to advance healthy lifestyles and to enforce family relations. The clinics also offer information on different societal services (for example maternity grant and allowance, child welfare officers, domestic help).

Child welfare clinics provide services for children under school age and their families. After the birth of the child the services are available in the family’s home municipality. Clinics support families in growing in parenthood, ensure as good health as possible for each child and to recognise possible obstacles for the development of the child. The clinic work is individually aimed, family centered and confidential. The appointments at the child welfare clinic are free of charge.

The location of the child welfare clinic services is determined according to the living area of the family. The city of Tampere also has a children and youth polyclinic where families can get specialised care for illnesses of the child or for possible obstacles in growth and in development.

City of Tampere: Maternity and child welfare clinics ›

Family counselling

The family counselling centre in Tampere serves families with children (living in the city) in issues related to the growth of the children and in inter relational family problems. The services aimed for children are meant for those under the age of 13. The services of the family counselling centre are confidential and free of charge. No cover letter is needed to visit the family counselling centre, but the customer can contact the centre directly when seeking help.

The family counselling centre offers mediation services for couples considering divorce or separation or for already separated couples who end up living together. The mediation services are meant for families that live in Tampere with children under the age of 18. The mediation services can be used by the couple, the whole family or partners can use the services alone. The mediation services can also be used to agree upon the custody and visitation of the children. The clients can voice their need for family matters mediation services by calling the counselling centre.

City of Tampere: Family counselling ›

Playgrounds

The city of Tampere includes several playgrounds for children and youthfully-minded people to use. The playgrounds have been divided in terms of their versatility, location and the size of the area to local and areal playgrounds. Local playgrounds are usually located in quarter parks and they include basic play equipment meant for children between 0-12 years. Areal playgrounds are located in bigger areal parks and are also better equipped. Areal playgrounds have playing fields, exercise equipment and hobby places meant for children of different ages.

Central playgrounds in the city centre include for example Pikku Kakkosen playground in Koskipuisto park, Tiitiäisen satupuisto in Näsinpuisto park, a playground in Sorsapuisto park and children’s traffic park in Kaleva. In the opposite of Tammelantori market square there is also a versatile playground of Emil Aaltonen that has equipment also for disabled children.

City of Tampere: Playgrounds › (in Finnish)

Playgrounds on a map ›

In the case of occurring accidents in the playgrounds the city maintains a self-surveillance system that can be used for reporting. The purpose of the self-surveillance is to improve the safety of the playgrounds and improve the standards of the maintenance.

Report an accident › (in Finnish)