Student members and the unemployment fund
If you are a full-time student working alongside your studies or during the summer and are paid at least EUR 465 per month, we recommend joining an unemployment fund so that you can start accumulating your employment condition. The employment condition accumulates in either full or half months. If you earn at least EUR 930 per month, you will accumulate a full month that satisfies the employment condition. If you earn EUR 465–929 per month, you will earn half a month that satisfies the employment condition. Two half-months accumulate one full month of the employment condition. The half-months do not need to be consecutive. The earnings-related daily allowance entitlement can therefore arise from, for example, 10 full- and 4 half-month periods. The employment condition is 12 months, and the review period is 28 months. The review period of the condition regarding previous employment can be extended by up to seven years due to studies.
You can join the unemployment fund when you are working during your studies. You should join the unemployment fund as soon as you start in your first paid job. If, after graduation, you become unemployed or are laid off from your job, you, as a member of the unemployment fund, may be entitled to an earnings-related allowance if you meet the employment condition within the period under review. The earliest starting point for the review period is the day you joined the unemployment fund. You can find more information on the KOKO fund’s website.
The earnings-related unemployment allowance is almost always higher than the basic unemployment allowance. You can use the calculator to calculate a rough estimate.
The fee of the Unemployment fund for highly educated KOKO is EUR 63 in 2025. If you are already a member of another unemployment fund, you can switch to the KOKO fund.
For student members, the membership fee of the fund is invoiced as an annual fee.
A full-time student is primarily not entitled to the unemployment benefits of Kela or the unemployment fund. With certain prerequisites, however, the studies can be interpreted as part-time, whereupon an unemployment benefit can be paid. The public employment services always make the decision case-specifically.
More information on the conditions for earnings-related unemployment allowance is available on the KOKO fund’s website.
As an unemployed jobseeker, you can receive earnings-related daily allowance, basic daily allowance or labor market support. Kela’s basic daily allowance is EUR 37.21 per day (from January 1, 2024), and it is paid for five days per week. More information on labor market support is available on Kela’s website. Newly graduated employees who have joined an unemployment fund and have worked during their studies in accordance with the employment condition may receive earnings-related allowance. Graph showing the effect of salary on unemployment benefit. The amount of daily allowance of a newly unemployed member of the unemployment fund is calculated on the basis of the salary income for the period counted towards the employment condition.
The estimated amount of earnings-related unemployment allowance received from the unemployment fund compared to the amount of unemployment benefit received from Kela when the salary of the employee’s work alongside their studies is EUR 2,400. This is the amount of earnings-related unemployment allowance before taxes.
Calculate the amount of the daily allowance using the KOKO fund calculator
After graduation, things such as fixed-term employment relationships may cause interruptions in employment. Approximately one fifth of engineers are unemployed two years after graduation. Sources: The Union of Professionals Engineers in Finland’s Student Survey and Employment Survey for Recent Graduates.
Changing the unemployment fund
You can change your unemployment fund while in a summer job, for example.