Information package: Sickness absence
One of Kela’s responsibilities is to compensate for the loss of earnings by paying sickness allowance for long absences. The following is a brief overview of the current state of sickness absences compensated under the sickness allowance scheme and of recent trends. At the end, you will find links to more material on this topic from Kela, including statistics and studies on sickness absences.
The number of recipients of sickness allowance decreased in 2023
A total of 306,000 persons received sickness allowance payments from Kela in 2023. The number of persons receiving sickness allowance decreased by about 10,000 or 3% compared to 2022. The main reason for the decrease is that the number of persons receiving sickness allowance because of COVID-19 was significantly lower in 2023 than in 2022.
The most common reason by far for receiving sickness allowance in 2023 was mental health disorders, with over 100,000 recipients. Some 78,000 people received sickness allowance because of musculoskeletal disorders.
In recent years, receiving sickness allowance because of mental health disorders has become more common, while the role of musculoskeletal disorders has diminished.
In the non-retired, working-age population between 16 and 67, about 10% receive sickness allowance every year.
The number of persons receiving sickness allowance because of anxiety disorders increased to nearly 50,000
Of mental health disorders, anxiety disorders are now the most common reason for receiving sickness allowance. In 2023, nearly 50,000 people received sickness allowance because of an anxiety disorder. There are now 2.5 times as many persons receiving sickness allowance because of an anxiety disorder as there were in 2016.
Of mental health disorders, the second most common reason for receiving sickness allowance is depressive disorders. However, the number of persons receiving sickness allowance because of depressive disorders has no longer increased in recent years.
Mental health disorders also the most common reason for sickness allowance
In 2023, Kela paid sickness allowance for a total of 15 million days. The number of days decreased by 60,000 compared to the previous year. Total expenditure on sickness allowances came to 901 million euros.
In addition, partial sickness allowance was paid in 2023 for 2.2 million days at a total cost of 79 million euros. Of the total days on sickness allowance and partial sickness allowance, the percentage of days on partial sickness allowance has been increasing and stood at 13% in 2023.
Mental health disorders accounted for a good third (36%) of the days on sickness allowance in 2023. The number of days on sickness allowance due to mental health disorders has increased over the past few years and so has their percentage of the total days on sickness allowance.
The increase in the number of sickness allowance days due to anxiety disorders has been particularly sharp in recent years. However, since sickness allowance payments due to depression last longer, depression still accounts for the largest percentage of sickness allowance days.
In 2023, musculoskeletal disorders accounted for a fourth (25%) of the compensated days on sickness allowance. The number of compensated days on sickness allowance due to musculoskeletal disorders has declined gradually for more than ten years.
Mental health disorders leading reason for sickness allowance payments among young people, musculoskeletal disorders predominate in older age groups
Among young people, the majority of sickness allowance payments are due to mental health and behavioural disorders, while musculoskeletal disorders predominate among older people.
Sickness absences due to mental health disorders and covered by Kela have increased in all age groups in recent years, with a slightly larger increase among women than among men. Sickness allowance payments linked to mental health disorders have increased consistently in the 16 to 34 age group for more than 15 years. By contrast, a clear increase has been seen in older age groups only in the last few years. The most common recipients of sickness allowance due to mental health disorders are women between the ages of 35 and 49.
Women receive sickness allowance more often than men
Women accounted for 61% of the recipients of sickness allowance in 2022. There are more recipients in older than in younger age groups.
Marked occupational and regional differences in sickness absences
Long sickness absences are more common in manual occupations than in non-manual occupations. Sickness allowance payments due particularly to musculoskeletal disorders are more common among persons performing physically demanding work than in other groups.
Sickness allowance payments on account of mental health disorders show smaller differences between occupational groups. Among lower non-manual workers, and particularly among women, sickness absences due to mental health disorders are, however, more common than among those in other occupational categories.
Self-employed persons have fewer sickness absences than wage earners, but their absences are longer than the average.
The regional differences in long sickness absences are aligned with general regional differences in health: the number of sickness allowance payments is above the average among those living in Northern and Eastern Finland, and below the average in Southern Finland, especially in Uusimaa. Over the past years, trends in the regional differences have been broadly similar in all regions. The regional differences are also reflected in the distribution of sickness allowance expenditures among the regions.
The sickness allowance data are also used when calculating the Work Disability Index of the National Health Index.
Long sickness absence is often a precursor to retirement on a disability pension
A good third of all sickness allowance payments lasts more than 30 days (the allowance is paid for working days from Monday to Saturday). Long periods of sickness absence are often a precursor to retirement on a disability pension. Yet even relatively short sickness allowance payments can be predictive of subsequent disability pension retirement several years into the future.
Retirement on a disability pension is usually preceded by a sickness allowance payment of about 12 months. Those receiving sickness allowance for a maximum period of time tend to use health services frequently before they retire. A frequent use of health services is also seen before the start of a long sickness absence. On the other hand , those receiving sickness allowance for a long time have relatively low participation rates in rehabilitation organised by Kela or authorised pension providers.
Labour market trajectories following sickness allowance payments often complex
Labour market trajectories are often fragmented after long sickness absences, and once the sickness allowance payment has ended, people frequently move between different labour market statuses. Particularly those with a history of unemployment who begin receiving sickness allowance are a very heterogeneous group with diverse labour market trajectories. Future employment is often unlikely for those whose unemployment is followed by a sickness allowance period.
Not all who use up their sickness allowance entitlement retire, because their application for a pension may be denied or they may not always file an application. Still, few of those who have used up their sickness allowance entitlement return to paid employment. By contrast, the majority of those who have used partial sickness allowance for the maximum period go back to paid employment after the end of their partial sickness allowance period.
Sickness allowance as an indicator of lengthy sickness absences
Sickness allowance take-up is an indicator of the prevalence of long sickness absences in the working-age population. Sickness allowance can be paid to persons between 16 and 67 on account of disability lasting less than a full year, provided that the incapacity lasts longer than the waiting period, which consists of the first day of incapacity and the following nine working days.
A partial sickness allowance can be paid to persons who face work capacity related challenges but who can continue working on a part-time basis while registered as disabled for work.
