Fees at service voucher day care centres

The service voucher client charge is calculated as a percentage of the family’s gross income. The maximum charge is EUR 311 per child per month. When a child attends early childhood education for at least 35 hours a week, the client charge is 10.7% of the amount of the family’s income that exceeds the specified minimum gross income limit.

If your family’s income exceeds the maximum gross income limit, you will pay the highest possible client charge. If your income is lower than the minimum gross income limit, no client charge is collected. Client charges of less than EUR 30/month are not collected at all.

The table below shows the gross income limit for the minimum and maximum client charge based on your family size. 

The hours of early childhood education needed by a child affect the client charge.

When a child attends early childhood education for at least 35 hours a week, the family pays a full client charge based on their income and the family’s size. If the child attends early childhood education for less than 35 hours a week, the family pays 60% or 80% of the full client charge, depending on the number of hours needed. The amount is rounded down or up to the nearest whole number.

In addition to the client charge, the service providers may charge an additional fee of up to EUR 50 per child per month. Here you can find information about the additional fees charged by service providers.

Just like municipal day care centres, service voucher day care centres also provide free-of-charge early childhood education for 5-year-olds.

Children can attend free-of-charge early childhood education for four hours a day (20 hours a week, 4 hours/day) in the year they turn five. The right to free hours of early childhood education starts in August and ends at the end of July of the following year (1 August–31 July). In this case, your family will only pay for the hours exceeding the free hours of early childhood education (20 hours/week). You can read more about free early childhood education for 5-year-olds here.

Pre-primary education (20 hours/week, 4 hours/day) is free of charge during the pre-primary education year (you can check the dates here).

If your child attends pre-primary education at the service voucher unit and also needs early childhood education, the city may grant you a service voucher for early childhood education. You need to apply for a service voucher for the pre-primary education year separately. Your client charge depends on the required number of hours per week.

The tables below show how the client charge is determined. The free-of-charge hours are automatically taken into account in the client charge.

The size of the family affects the client charge. Family members include married individuals and cohabiting partners who form a joint household and their underage children belonging to the same household. 

The sibling discount that is used in municipal early childhood education also applies to the service voucher client charge.

• The maximum client charge for the youngest child is EUR 311 per month.
• The maximum client charge for the second child is 40% of the youngest child’s charge (max. EUR 124/month).
• The client charge for the family’s other children is 20% of the youngest child’s charge (max. EUR 62/month).

Siblings’ client charges are calculated on the basis of the charge that would be paid for the youngest child if they attended early childhood education for at least 35 hours a week.

In addition to the client charge, day care centres may charge an additional fee of up to EUR 50 per child per month.

The family’s income affects the client charge. We take into account the income of everyone included in the family size. Children’s income is also taken into account.

Your child can be absent from early childhood education due to parental leave for a maximum of 13 consecutive weeks. No service voucher client charge is collected for a child for whom parental allowance is paid if the child’s absence lasts more than 5 days or in the case of recurring absences of 1–5 days. The service provider may, however, charge the day care centre’s additional fee for the duration of the absence.

For a one-off absence lasting no more than 5 days, the client charge is collected as usual.

Notify the director of your child’s early childhood education unit in writing when your child will be absent from early childhood education due to parental leave. Attach Kela’s decision on parental leave days to the message.

• An absence that lasts over 5 days but no more than 13 weeks must be reported at least one month before it starts.
• A recurring absence of 1–5 days must be reported at least one week before the first day of absence.
• It is recommended but not mandatory to report in advance one-off absences lasting up to 5 days. Please note that in case of one-off absences, the client charge is collected as usual for the duration of the absence.
• If the absence lasts longer than 13 weeks, you must terminate your child’s place in early childhood education.

Your child cannot attend early childhood education during days of parental leave. Parental leave does not affect the right of the other children in the family to participate in early childhood education or the client charge collected for them.

You will receive a decision on your service voucher client charge within about a month after your child has started attending early childhood education at the service voucher day care centre. We will send the decision to the Suomi.fi service if you have activated it in connection with a municipal or state service. Otherwise you will receive the decision by post.

The invoicing of service voucher client charges starts from the day when your child starts attending early childhood education in accordance with their early childhood education decision. The start date can be postponed once for up to 2 weeks.

When using a service voucher, your child may be absent from early childhood education for a maximum of 8 consecutive calendar weeks per year for reasons other than illness or parental allowance periods. The early childhood education unit must be notified of the absence in advance. If the absence is longer, the service voucher decision will expire.

• on the expiry date specified in the service voucher decision;
• on the child’s last day of early childhood education stated on eVaka;
• if the child’s place in early childhood education is terminated in writing;
• if the child moves to another municipality;
• by 31 July in the year when the child’s right to pre-primary education begins.

If your child no longer needs early childhood education, terminate your agreement with the service provider. Please note that you must observe the notice period specified in the agreement.

It is possible to apply for a reduction of or exemption from service voucher client charges when certain conditions are met.

Decisions on reductions are always based on a case-by-case consideration. A reduction of or exemption from charges may be granted if, for example, the family receives basic social assistance or if the family’s financial situation unexpectedly deteriorates, for example due to unemployment. In addition, an exemption may be granted if early childhood education is provided as a support measure related to child welfare open care. A reduction or exemption only applies to the actual client charge, not any additional fees charged by the service voucher day care centre.

Here you can read more about how to apply for a reduction of or exemption from client charges. Please note that before applying for a reduction or exemption, you must submit a new income statement through eVaka.

If you have questions about your child’s hours of early childhood education or if you, for example, want to report a change in your family size, please contact the director of your child’s early childhood education unit.

In matters related to the determination of the value of your service voucher and the client charge, you can call the telephone service of Espoo’s client fees team (see contact information at the bottom of the page). When you call the number, your questions will be answered by the Financial Management Unit’s financial coordinators.

If you have questions about the invoicing of your client charges, please contact the service provider.