Information package: Vocational rehabilitation

This information package provides an overview of trends in the number of persons receiving vocational rehabilitation through Kela. It also looks at the rehabilitation allowance both with regard to expenditure and the number of recipients, and examines the take-up of other benefits and services among recipients of vocational rehabilitation. The information package ends with a summary of the legislative amendments that have affected vocational rehabilitation. 

Kela arranges vocational rehabilitation for persons of working age who are either outside working life or have only recently started work and who have an illness that currently impacts their ability to work or study or is likely to do so in the next few years. Kela also pays young persons rehabilitation allowance for young persons and provides access to vocational rehabilitation for young persons.

More information on what the vocational rehabilitation services entail is available on Kela’s website. The services available under section 6 of the Act on Rehabilitation Benefits and Rehabilitation Allowance Benefits Granted by Kela are:

• vocational rehabilitation assessment 
• education and training 
• work try-out
• job coaching
• Kiila rehabilitation for persons who are working 
• vocational Taito rehabilitation
• training try-out 
• assistive devices
• self-employment grant 

The number of vocational rehabilitation recipients grew consistently until 2021 – the total for 2024 was about 23,500

In the 2010–2024 period, the peak year for vocational rehabilitation in terms of the number of clients was 2021. In that year, a little under 28,000 persons received vocational rehabilitation. Since 2022, the recipient figures have declined particularly in the under-25 age group. This may be partly attributed to young people being referred to vocational rehabilitation for young persons and especially to Nuotti coaching.

In 2024, a little over 23,000 persons received vocational rehabilitation, 14,000 of them women and 9,000 men. For 11,000 persons, vocational rehabilitation was provided in the form of education and training, while 13,000 persons received it in the form of rehabilitation services.

About 16,000 persons in 2024 received rehabilitation allowance during vocational rehabilitation

In 2024, a little less than 16,000 persons were paid rehabilitation allowance while undergoing vocational rehabilitation.  Of them, 9,000 were paid rehabilitation allowance during education and training and 7,000 during participation in rehabilitation services.

The recipient totals for the rehabilitation allowance have gone up in recent years. The number of persons receiving rehabilitation allowance during education or training has seen a consistent increase. By contrast, the number of persons who were paid rehabilitation allowance while receiving rehabilitation services grew until 2019 but then dropped in both 2020 and 2021. This was followed by another upturn between 2022 and 2024.

 

There has also been an increase in the expenditure on rehabilitation allowances. In 2024, a total of EUR 90 million was spent on rehabilitation allowances paid during vocational rehabilitation, with EUR 73 million going to persons in education or training and EUR 17 million to those receiving rehabilitation services.

Besides the expenditure on rehabilitation allowances, we can look at the cost of delivering rehabilitation services to clients. In 2024, the costs for vocational rehabilitation services amounted to EUR 39 million, of which EUR 2.5 million went to education and training and EUR 36.7 million to rehabilitation services.

Regional variation in the prevalence of vocational rehabilitation

Of the total Finnish population aged 16 or over, 0.49% received vocational rehabilitation in 2024.

The largest percentage of recipients relative to the population of the same age was seen in North Karelia (1.03%), Pirkanmaa (0.7%), Central Finland (0.69%) and North Ostrobothnia (0.69%).

The smallest percentages in mainland Finland were recorded in Uusimaa (0.3%), South Karelia (0.3%) and Ostrobothnia (0.39%).

The prevalence of vocational rehabilitation was highest in the 16–34 age group, which can be explained by the fact that the education and training provided as part of vocational rehabilitation is significantly more common in younger age groups than in older ones. The participation rate in rehabilitation services is highest among persons aged 55 or over, followed by the 16–34 age group.

Take-up of other Kela benefits among recipients of vocational rehabilitation in 2024

Recipients of vocational rehabilitation are also often paid other benefits. This is also common among recipients of other benefits; many people receive more than one social security benefit at the same time.

Altogether 51% of vocational rehabilitation recipients used psychoactive medicines, while 15% purchased ADHD medications and 37% had a right to a special rate of reimbursement for at least one prescription medicine.

General housing allowance was paid to half of all vocational rehabilitation recipients. Basic social assistance was paid to 32% of the recipients and Kela unemployment benefits to 30% of them. Altogether 20% received sickness allowance benefits. Altogether 20% of vocational rehabilitation recipients were reimbursed for the cost of visits to a private practice physician and 19% for travel costs.

Child benefits were paid to 12% and student financial aid to 10% of all recipients of vocational rehabilitation.

Some recipients of vocational rehabilitation recipients were also paid rehabilitation allowance or other Kela benefits in 2024, or received some other type of rehabilitation arranged by Kela. More detailed recipient figures are found in the table.

 

Legislative amendments with an effect on vocational rehabilitation

Kela monitors and assesses the effects that legislative amendments have for example on the paths that people take to vocational rehabilitation. Below are some of the legislative amendments that have had an effect on vocational rehabilitation.

Legislative amendments with an effect on the vocational rehabilitation arranged by Kela (Section 6):

• Act on Rehabilitation Arranged by Kela (610/1991, repealed): vocational rehabilitation was arranged under this act from its enactment on 1 October 1991.
• Act on Rehabilitation Benefits and Rehabilitation Allowance Benefits Granted by Kela  (566/2005)
• Amendment effective 1 January 2014: effect on vocational rehabilitation: the requirement of impending unemployment was abolished; a reduced ability to study and consideration of the customers’ overall circumstances were added as new qualifying criteria. A reference to the primacy of vocational rehabilitation arranged under the Act on Public Employment and Business Service was removed.
• Amendment effective 1 January 2017: Kela must determine the customers’ eligibility for not only the rehabilitation allowance for young persons but also for education and training as a vocational rehabilitation measure.
• Amendment effective 1 January 2019: Text was added (section 7a) concerning the provision of vocational rehabilitation for young persons as a statutory responsibility of Kela and the qualifying criteria and substance of vocational rehabilitation for young persons. Under the added section, vocational rehabilitation for young people is arranged for persons aged 16–29 whose functional capacity is significantly impaired and who are in need of rehabilitation. A diagnosis of an illness or disability is not required. Further, the rehabilitation must be appropriate to supporting and promoting the customers’ functional capacity, life mastery and capability to study or find employment.
• Amendment effective 1 January 2023: A provision was added to section 6 pertaining to the vocational rehabilitation arranged by Kela, clarifying the responsibilities around the provision of vocational rehabilitation. It set aside the requirement for Kela to arrange vocational rehabilitation for an insured person who had a valid preliminary decision on their right to rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension laws.
• Amendment effective 1 January 2024: the minimum rates of the rehabilitation allowance for young persons and the allowance paid during vocational rehabilitation were reduced to align with the minimum rate of other rehabilitation allowances (and of the sickness allowance). In addition, the formula used to calculate the rehabilitation allowance payable during vocational rehabilitation was adjusted to bring the allowance down to the level of other rehabilitation allowances and of the sickness allowance.
• Amendment effective 1 January 2025: vocational rehabilitation for young persons is targeted more effectively at young persons who are not in school or work or who are otherwise at risk of exclusion. No rehabilitation allowance is available during participation in Nuotti coaching. The age limit for rehabilitation allowance was raised to 18 years (for those born in 2008 or before, the age limit is 16 years).