A student’s most important safety net
Can a permanent job or your chosen profession feel so secure that there is no need to think about unemployment benefits? This is something many students also consider as graduation approaches. The changes that have taken place in working life over recent years have shown that unexpected situations can affect anyone. In this expert article, we explore why membership in an unemployment fund is, above all, a way of preparing for the future.
As autumn approaches, educational institutions open their doors, and Finland’s future walks through them. Whether it is a first-grader starting primary school or someone putting the finishing touches on a licentiate thesis at university, one thing unites them all: every year, the future seems to remain hidden behind the same thick veil of uncertainty.
Research continues to show that a higher education degree provides stability for the future. Finding employment in the Finnish labour market is easier with a master’s degree in your back pocket than without one. But can you be certain that you will find a job immediately after graduation? Can you time your graduation perfectly to coincide with the middle of an economic upswing, when the labour market is at its strongest? Or will things turn out as they once did for me? The year I graduated was also, due to a legislative change, the final opportunity for hundreds, if not thousands, of so-called perpetual students to complete their degrees. As if that were not enough, Finland was hit that same year by a recession triggered by the global financial crisis. There I was, a newly graduated master’s degree holder from a field with strong employment prospects, wondering how this had happened: there were no jobs anywhere, and even trainee positions attracted competition from people with doctoral degrees.
Does that sound familiar? It has been nearly twenty years since then, yet with only a few details changed, my own graduation story could just as easily have taken place last year.
History does not necessarily repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes. That is why one of the most important things you can do as a student to prepare for your future is to join an unemployment fund. Why, you may ask? That is exactly why I am here today. I will also explain why Ote is the right unemployment fund for you.
Claim 1: You can’t join while you’re a student!
Studying is a unique stage of life. It begins at some point and ends at some point, but a great deal can happen in between. The only universal requirement for joining an unemployment fund for employees is that you are engaged in paid work.
As a higher education student, you can join the fund from the very first day you are employed. No special type of job is required; any work carried out as an employee qualifies. In other words, the job does not need to be related in any way to the field you are studying.
You can apply for Ote membership as soon as your employment contract has been signed. Simply indicate in your membership application that you are applying for membership starting from the first day of your employment.
Claim 2: It’s terribly expensive!
Membership in Ote is one of the most affordable forms of insurance in Finland. It is true that it is not free. However, it is not particularly expensive, especially when considering the potential benefits.
If you are already a student member of a trade union affiliated with Ote, your membership fees during periods of employment will be no higher than those of other working members. When your employment ends and you continue your studies, the unions offer a reduced membership fee.
This year, the membership fee for the Unemployment Fund Ote is €63 for the entire year. When you join Ote through your trade union, the unemployment fund membership fee is included in the union membership fee.
Claim 3: What benefit does membership provide for me as a student? It’s difficult to qualify for earnings-related unemployment allowance!
That is true. In 2024, Finland’s Unemployment Security Act was amended so that entitlement to earnings-related unemployment allowance requires both the membership condition and the 12-month employment condition to be met. However, the membership condition starts accumulating continuously from your very first day of membership. If you join today and graduate in two years’ time, you will already have fulfilled the membership condition twice over.
The employment condition is met for each month in which you earn at least €930 in wages. The work does not need to be continuous. For example, if you work for three months every summer during five years of study, you will fulfil the employment condition before completing your degree.
If it turns out that you do not find a job immediately after graduation, having joined an unemployment fund in good time can help secure your livelihood. Normally, the 12-month employment condition must be met within a 28‑month review period, which is a little over two years. However, periods of full-time study extend this review period by up to nine years. This means that your livelihood remains protected after graduation, even if your studies take longer than expected.
Claim 4: My income is too low, Kela will pay the same amount anyway!
Today, it is possible to receive earnings-related unemployment allowance that is equal in amount to the general social security benefit. This happens if the entire employment condition is fulfilled through months in which earnings are below €1,000 per month. However, as little as six months of full-time work will likely increase the allowance to a level where the general social security benefit is lower.
Let’s look at this in practice. This year, Kela’s general social security benefit amounts to €37.21 gross per weekday, which is approximately €800 per month on average. Taxes are also withheld from the benefit.
The amount of earnings-related unemployment allowance is calculated based on income earned during the 12 months that count towards the employment condition. In 2025, the average full allowance paid by unemployment funds was €77 gross per day, or €1,654 per month. Allowances paid to people under 30 are lower because wages are generally lower at the beginning of a career. Even so, the average earnings-related unemployment allowance for young people is around €60 per weekday. The difference compared with the general social security benefit is therefore very significant.
Even so, the average earnings-related unemployment allowance for young people is around €60 per weekday
Earnings-related unemployment allowance also has other advantages compared with the general security benefit. The general support is so low that many recipients also need to apply for social assistance. As a last-resort benefit, both the level of social assistance and the conditions for receiving it have been tightened over time. According to statistics from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), people receiving earnings-related unemployment allowance account for only a small share of social assistance recipients. Historically, as many as one third of recipients of labour market subsidy, the predecessor of the general social security benefit, have also received social assistance Moreover, social assistance is widely regarded as a benefit that can discourage active participation in the labour market.
Claim 5: But it all seems so complicated
It is true that you need to join the unemployment fund separately. However, joining is no more difficult than, for example, taking out motor insurance. All membership applications are always processed by the unemployment fund, even if you complete the application through your trade union’s membership pages. Your details are then forwarded to us at Ote. Since we always assess eligibility for membership separately, it is important that you clearly provide at least your employer’s details and the start date of your employment. If necessary, we may also request additional information, most often via secure email for data protection reasons. Keep an eye on your inbox and respond if you receive a notification saying, “You have Secure Mail.”
Maintaining your membership is easy as well: all you need to do is pay your membership fee! If you joined through your trade union, the unemployment fund fee is included in the union membership fee. If you are only a member of the unemployment fund, you will receive an invoice just once a year. If the invoice is misplaced or you forget to pay it, you can find the payment details by logging in to your union’s membership services or, if you are our individual member, through Otenetti.
Claim 6: There is a labour shortage in my field, so I will never need earnings-related unemployment benefits
It is great to see such confidence in the future! Membership in an unemployment fund can actually be compared to an insurance policy. I do not pay for my home insurance because I expect something to go wrong. I trust that, for example, my water pipes have been installed properly.
However, I cannot control whether my neighbour falls asleep in the shower. Nor can I prevent a stone kicked up by a passing truck from crashing through my window. The old saying “accidents happen without warning.” still rings true. That is why I keep my home insurance active.
In recent years, the labour market has faced several shocks, situations that few people even considered possible. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were laid off even in sectors that had traditionally been regarded as highly secure. The war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia subsequently hit entire industries that had long relied on trade with the East. More recently, government and municipal spending cuts have made it more difficult to find work even in fields that, only five years ago, long-term unemployed jobseekers were encouraged to retrain for. Do you remember when people used to say, “There will always be jobs in healthcare”?
How do I know whether I am a member of an unemployment fund?
Good question, and in fact, it is not entirely straightforward. Over the years, practices and systems have changed. Nowadays, regardless of which trade union you join, the application form usually includes a separate question asking whether you also wish to become a member of the unemployment fund. Naturally, you must be eligible for membership, which in practice means that you are employed.
You can join Ote if you are pursuing a higher education qualification and working as an employee at the same time.
The easiest way to check whether you are a member of an unemployment fund is to look at your membership fee invoice. Membership of an unemployment fund is always subject to a fee, and if you have not paid anything for the membership, you cannot be a member. Even if the invoice is sent through your trade union, you can see from the amount charged whether the unemployment fund membership fee is included.
As a rule, you can also check your membership status by logging into your union’s member services. If you are a member only of the unemployment fund, you can log in to Otenetti. In practice, if the login works, you are a member.
Who doesn’t join an unemployment fund?
In 2021, the Federation of Unemployment Funds in Finland (TYJ) funded its most recent study on the characteristics of employees who are not members of an unemployment fund. The research was based on Statistics Finland register data covering the years 2004 to 2017. Although the data is already nearly ten years old, the trends remain valid in my opinion. If anything, the situation is actually worse today than it was then.
Public statistics provide annual figures both for the number of employed people and for the number of unemployment fund members. In 2025, as many as 26% of employed people did not belong to any unemployment fund. For comparison, the figure was 21% in 2017 and even lower, 19%, in 2011. At the same time, the proportion of people in permanent full-time employment has decreased. In other words, the more people would benefit from the financial security provided by unemployment fund membership, the fewer people have chosen to join. Why is that?
The study revealed clear differences between fund members and non-members. People under the age of 25 were significantly more likely than other age groups to be outside the unemployment fund system, as were those in temporary employment, part-time work and low-paid jobs. Women were more likely to belong to an unemployment fund than men. The likelihood of membership increased with educational attainment.
The typical person who remains outside an unemployment fund is around 22 years old and has not yet completed a qualification. They live in a city, work in the private service sector, have a temporary or part-time job, and work in a small workplace with fewer than 50 employees. That sounds very much like a student.
Don’t leave your livelihood to chance. Apply for membership from your very first day of work!
Mirka Räinä
Membership Manager
