Kela: unemployed now dominate housing benefit recipients

The profile of housing benefit recipients in Finland changed in 2025 after students moved to a separate support system, leaving unemployed and low-income households as the main beneficiaries. Data from Kela shows that 240,400 households received general housing benefit in December 2025, a drop of 141,600 or 37 per cent from the previous year. The decline followed a reform in August that moved most students from general housing benefit to a student housing supplement.