Daycare Customer Fees

A monthly fee is charged of early childhood education and care. The amount of the fee depends on the size of your family, your gross income, and service need.

The highest client fee is €295 month and the lowest €28 month. The fee for a second child does not exceed 40 % of the first child's fee; it is a maximum of €118. The fee for other children is 20 % of the fee for the youngest child in the family.

As of 1st of August 2024, the highest fee for municipal early childhood education and care is €311 month (the youngest child in the family). The fee charged for the second child is a maximum of 40% of the fee for the youngest child, i.e. a maximum of €124 month. The fee for subsequent children is 20% of the fee for the youngest child. The lowest early childhood education fee is €30 month.

The amount of the fee in private daycare depends on the daycare centre and the service voucher. If the private daycare charges exceed the service voucher, the family will pay the rest.

The client fees team

The client fees team provides information on early childhood education fees and the income affecting them, the submission of income statements, and matters related to municipal early childhood education payment decisions and private early childhood education service voucher decisions.

On-call phone service Tue-Thu 9.00–12.00 tel. 08 558 45300 - choose number 2
Visiting address: Early childhood education and care service team, Oulu 10 (Torikatu 10), 90100 Oulu
Postal address: P.O box 17, 90015 Oulun kaupunki
E-mail: varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi

Do you have questions about client fees?

Please contact our customer payment unit

Visiting address: Customer Payments team, Oulu 10 (Torikatu 10) 90100 Oulu
On-call phone service Tue-Thu 9.00–12.00 tel. 08 558 45300 - choose number 2
Postal address: P.O. box 75 90015 Oulun kaupunki
e-mail varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi

Customer Fee Amounts

Early childhood education and care income limits starting from 1.3.2023:

Income limits
Family size / person	Fee is 28 € if income is at least	Fee is 295 € if income is more than	Minimum gross income (€) per month	Fee percentage %
2	4136	6626	3874	10.70
3	5260	7750	4998	10,70
4	5937	8427	5675	10,70
5	6615	9105	6353	10,70
6	7290	9780	7028	10,70

The youngest child is the most expensive child. The largest possible fee for the youngest child is 295,00 € per month. In age order, the next child’s fee is 40 % of the youngest child’s fee, a maximum of 118,00 € per month. The monthly fee is 20 % of the youngest child’s fee for all following children, a maximum of 59,00 €. Fees lower than 28 € are not charged.

The early childhood education and care customer fees are connected to an index, the education fee index is used. The index is reviewed every two years.

Example: the total monthly gross income of a family of four is 6200,00 € including holiday pay. A 5% holiday bonus is added to the monthly gross income. The minimum gross income limit 5675 € is deducted from the family’s income = 525 €. The fee percentage is calculated 10,70% = 56,00 €, which is the monthly early childhood education and care fee for full-time care.

Early childhood education and care income limits starting from 1.8.2024:

Family size / person	Fee is 30 € if income is at least	Fee is 311 € if income is more than	Minimum gross income (€) per month	Fee percentage %
2	4346	6974	4066	10.70
3	5520	8152	5245	10,70
4	6231	8863	5956	10,70
5	6942	9574	6667	10,70
6	7651	10283	7376	10,70

The youngest child is the most expensive child. The largest possible fee for the youngest child is 311,00 € per month. In age order, the next child’s fee is 40 % of the youngest child’s fee, a maximum of 124,00 € per month. The monthly fee is 20 % of the youngest child’s fee for all following children, a maximum of 62,00 €. Fees lower than 30 € are not charged.

Example: the total monthly gross income of a family of four is €6400,00 including holiday pay. A 5% holiday bonus is added to the monthly gross income. The minimum gross income limit 5956 € is deducted from the family’s income = €444. The fee percentage is calculated 10,70% = €48,00, which is the monthly early childhood education and care fee for full-time care.

Table where you can check other income limits from 1st of August 2024:

Contract on early childhood education and care service need starting from 1.8.2021

Service need	Fee percentage from full-time fee
10 days per month	50 %
13 per month	75 %
less than 5 hours daily	60 %
less than 7 hours daily	75 %
Preschool + Daycare 10 days per month	30 %
Preschool + Daycare 13 days per month	45 %
Preschool + Daycare less than 3 hours	45 %
Preschool + Full-time Daycare	60 %
Free of charge preschool	0 %
Full time Daycare	100 %
2-year Preschool + Daycare 10 days per month	30 %
2-year Preschool + Daycare 13 days per month	45 %
2-year preschool less than 3 hours	45 %
2-year preschool + Full-time Daycare	60 %

Other fees

Temporary early childhood education and care is charged 17.30 € a day per child in full-time care, and 10,40 € a day per child in part-time care. A maximum of five (5) care dates of temporary early childhood education and care can be used per month.
Open early education is free of charge
If a child in preschool or daycare (full-time) needs full-time care during fall, Christmas, and winter breaks, the reserved care dates are charged based on service need
If a child in free of charge preschool needs early childhood care during preschool breaks, a contract is made with the daycare centre manager and a fixed daily fee is charged (full-time care 17.30 € per day and 10,40 € for care dates of less than five (5) hours)
Early childhood education and care fees are not charged during paternity allowance periods (Early Childhood Education and Care Act 11a §). The family must inform the daycare centre manager about absences during paternity allowance periods. The family is not allowed to utilize early childhood education services for the child the paternity allowance is being paid for.
The Supreme Administrative Court has confirmed 6.11.2012 that taking part in early childhood education and care groups is considered rehabilitative activity for intellectually disabled children, and care in daycare centres must be recorded in the child’s special care programme. The intellectually disabled child must receive free of charge early childhood education and care as a part of special care mandated by legislation.

Oulu’s Board of Education and Culture has decreed (27.3.2013 § 28) that no fees are charged for early childhood education and care recorded in the special care programmes of intellectually disabled children starting from 1.12.2012.

Early childhood education and care of disabled children is free of charge when the early childhood care service is recorded in the special care programme (EHL).

Income Declaration

Declare your income in eVaka

Family income includes

The service user’s (the child or children in early childhood education and care) and the people’s, living with them in the same household in marriage or in circumstances comparable to marriage, taxable income and capital income, tax-free income, and revenue substituting income.

If you are unable to declare your income online, you may use the form below. The income declaration must be delivered to the early childhood education and care customer payment team via mail: PL 90015 Oulun kaupunki or delivered to Oulu10, address Torikatu 10, 90100 Oulu.

Income declaration form for daycare fees

Legislative amendment as of 1.1.2024. The accrual of holiday compensation has been restored. If a person has untaken holidays at the end of the employment relationship, the compensation paid for them postpones the start of entitlement to earnings-related daily allowance. The accrual of holiday compensation and the waiting period do not run at the same time. The waiting period begins after the accrual of any holiday compensation. Holiday compensation will be accrued if it is paid on the basis of an employment relationship that ended on or after 1.1.2024.

Absences

Absences from early childhood education and care are compensated only when:

If the child is absent due to illness for all care dates of an entire calendar month, no fee will be charged for that month
If the child is absent due to illness for at least eleven (11) care dates of a calendar month, half of the customer fee will be charged for that month
If the child is absent for any other reason than illness for all care dates of an entire calendar month, half of the customer fee will be charged for that month
No fee is charged for days when the child is absent from early childhood education and care during periods of paternity and parental leave. During periods of paternity and parental leave, the family does not have the right to use an early childhood education place for the child for whom they are on paternity and parental leave. Information about paternity and parental leave must be notified in advance to the early childhood education centre
When the child starts or ends early childhood education and care in the middle of a calendar month, the customer fee is charged based on the amount of used care dates. The fee will be lower than the full monthly fee.

Incorrect charge?

Were you charged incorrectly for early childhood education and care?

If you were charged incorrectly for early childhood education and care, please contact the city of Oulu’s customer charging service number tel. 08 5585 4770 or e-mail: asiakaslaskut@ouka.fi.

Early childhood education and care ledger-keeper is Monetra Oy.

Customer Fee Processing

Do you have questions about customer fee processing?
Early childhood education and care customer payment team

Tel. 08 558 45300
On-call service Tue-Thu 9.00-12.00 (choose number 2)
E-mail: varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi

The early childhood education and care customer payment team may grant payment time for undue early childhood education invoices for a maximum of three months from the due date. Interest may be charged on the payment period used.

Income declarations relating to customer payments and private daycare service vouchers are processed and decided by the early childhood education and care customer payment team. The team is located in Torikatu 10, second floor.
Postal address: varhaiskasvatuksen asiakasmaksutiimi PL 75 90015 Oulun kaupunki.

Deliver the income declarations via eVaka. Income declarations are not delivered via registry.

You can add additional information about your income in details area.

You can find decisions about customer fees in eVaka (Settings > Decisions).

Questions about Customer Fees?

Early childhood education and care customer payment team

Visiting address: varhaiskasvatuksen asiakasmaksutiimi, Oulu10 (Torikatu 10), 90100 Oulu
Postal address: varhaiskasvatuksen asiakasmaksutiimi, P.O. box 75, 90015 Oulun kaupunki
Phone number: 08 558 45300 – choose number 2. On-call service Tue-Thu 9.00-12.00
E-mail: varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi
You can consult the customer payment team on matters of early childhood education and care customer payments, income declarations, and municipal early childhood education and care payment decisions and private early childhood education and care service voucher decisions

Summertime Customer Fees

Customer fees charged during summertime are based on the decree of public charges and the decision made by the Board of Education and Culture on at least six-week absence and July fees (Board of Education and Culture 26.2.2014 § 28).

When is July free of charge?

In municipal early childhood education and care, customer fees are charged for a maximum of eleven (11) months per year of activity (1.8.-31.7.). The fee is based on early childhood education and care starting time.

The summertime payments are determined based on the starting time as follows:

If the child’s early childhood education and care has started 31.8. or earlier the July of the following year is free of charge
If the child’s early childhood education and care has started 1.9. or later and the child is absent for July, the month will be free of charge
If the child’s early childhood education and care has started 1.9. or later and needs on-call care services in July, only the used care dates are charged

Absence of at least 6-weeks requires a contract

During the summer, families have the opportunity to save on client fees. If the child is absent from day care for at least six consecutive weeks between 1.6. and 31.8., no client fee will be charged for that period. Payments are determined by the income of the families.

Over six-week absences must be notified by 14.5 in eVaka, the notification is binding. Absences that are notified after this date will be charged.

Exception: changes to contracts can be made for special reasons; for example, guardian’s temporary or permanent lay off or changes in holiday times caused by the employer. Written certificates of such changes must be delivered to the daycare centre.

Possible reductions to customer fees

You may apply for possible reductions or discounts from customer fees from the early childhood education and care customer payment team tel. 08 558 45300 (Tue-Thu 9.00-12.00, choose 2) or e-mail varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi. You may ask for the form for possible nullification or reduction from the customer payment team. You must return the filled in form to the customer payment team.

The director of early childhood education will make the final decisions on possible reductions or nullifications.

Grounds for possible reductions are:

The family is on income support

Families on income support may have their customer fees nullified or reduced.

The family arranges night and weekend care themselves

If the family doing shift work arranges the child’s night and weekend care by themselves when the daycare centre is closed or the family is not provided care services, 20% is reduced from the monthly customer fee or the actual expenses are reduced from the monthly customer fee according to the family’s verification. Verification of expenses must be delivered together as attachments with the application.

Student living in two municipalities

30% of the customer fee can be reduced if the student lives in two municipalities and does not receive housing allowance for one rented apartment. Verification (lease and receipts of rent payments) must be delivered together as attachments together with the application.

Customer under enforcement

By rule, the customer fee is not reduced. The guardian can appeal for the enforcement to be considered in the family’s overall condition. Oulu’s Enforcement Authority’s catalog and list of taxable enforced items together as attachments with the application.

Changes to the family’s overall condition

When customer fees have not been paid due to surprising expenses caused by a surprising divorce or common-law divorce (fees are paid by both guardians), verification of surprising expenses must be delivered together as attachments with the application. The fee is revised to match the guardian’s income. A payment plan is made if necessary.

Medical expenses

Large medical expenses can affect the family’s ability to pay if the family’s income has decreased due to illness. One-time discount of 50% can be reduced from the customer fee. Verification of medical expenses must be delivered together as attachments with the application.

Child’s time in hospital and rehabilitation

Customer fees can be reduced at discretion due to the child's high hospital expenses during the hospital and rehabilitation period. Supporting documents for paid hospital and rehabilitation period fees must be attached to the application.

E-invoices

Direct your early childhood education and care customer fee invoices to your online bank. Read more on e-invoices.

When you direct your charge invoices to your online bank write down the social security number of the guardian whose name first appears on the customer fee. This information is used to direct the charge to the right customer in the city of Oulu’s invoicing system.

Invoices right to your online bank

The city of Oulu offers a chance to its customers to direct their early childhood education and care charges right to your online bank as e-invoices.

An e-invoice is an electronic invoice that appears directly in the customer’s online bank. The sent invoice appears as a normal invoice in the online bank. You can register to receive the city of Oulu’s e-invoices whenever. The e-invoice instructions can be found in your online bank. Further guidance is found from your bank’s customer service.

The 26th day of each month is the fixed deadline for early childhood education and care customer fees.

What is the benefit of e-invoices?

No need for constant writing of account and reference numbers, no typos, the form is always ready for payment
No need to worry about keeping and destroying the paper invoices, the invoices are safe in an electronic archive
The invoices can be inspected and paid wherever you have internet access, even when traveling
No more monthly early childhood education and care customer invoice among your mail

Who can receive Oulu’s e-invoices?

Either guardian can make an e-invoice agreement and direct the invoices to any online bank account as long as the social security number of the guardian whose name appears first on the customer fee invoice is filled in into the agreement.

Income Registry

The income registry is a database used by many authorities that consists of income, pension, and benefit data.

Income data is visible in the income registry starting from 1.1.2020 and pension and other benefit data is visible starting from 1.1.2021. The employer or other paying party declares the income and other payments to the income registry. The declaration must be made within 5 days of making the payment. Entrepreneur revenue is not declared to the registry.

The families deliver their income declaration and agree to the use of the income registry via eVaka. The income registry can be used to verify income even without consent (Act on Client Fees in Early Childhood Education and Care § 17, authority’s right of access to a document).

The families must inform possible coming changes to the families or their sizes, such as returning to work after unemployment, unemployment, new maternity or parental allowance, child care allowance, beginning studies. Information about these changes does not arrive to the customer payment team; therefore, the family is obligated to inform the team of changes in income and family size.

Income declaration is made via eVaka no matter if the family is using municipal or private daycare services.

Frequently asked questions

When does the charging for a preschool aged child end?

Free of charge preschool education ends 31.5. If the child is in care starting from 1.6., the charging decision is based on full-time early childhood education and care fees. Meaning that the fee will be charged as long as the care place is in effect. If the child is in daycare only for a few days in the summer, only the used care dates are charged. If the child is in daycare in August before transferring to school, the care in August is charged as long as the care place is in force.

Why does the payment decision show a different sum than the invoice?

The payment decision always shows the monthly fee. The reason why the sum on the invoice is smaller is because the child has started early childhood education and care mid-month and thus only the charged care dates are charged. The sum is smaller on the invoice also when the child leaves early childhood education and care services.

Why do I receive so many payment decisions?

A new payment decision is developed every time the child’s information is updated. If there are changes in the child’s family (such as a new common-law marriage or marriage, new child is born, or a child turns 18), a new payment decision is developed. When the child’s service need changes (such as transferring from full-time to part-time daycare or the family makes a new contract for lower service need which affects the customer fees), a new payment decision is developed. Updates to legislation and indexes affect early childhood education and care fees and the income limits change. All these changes cause a new payment decision to be developed.

What kinds of income affect the early childhood education and care fees?

Earned income (gross) (includes any production subsidies paid with salary)
Taxable perks (for example car, food, phone, and apartment perks)
Capital income (for example interest, dividend, and rent revenue)
Revenue from independent exercise of a profession and entrepreneurship (includes business start-up allowance)
Taxable daily allowances (does not include allowances under travel regulation)
Pensions and life annuity (includes those of children in day care)
Child support and allowance for children in day care
Daily allowances regulated by the Unemployment Allowances Act with increases for any children
Daily allowances with increases for any children, labor market subsidies with increases for any children, and educational allowances paid by Kela
Educational allowances and earnings-related training allowance for labor market training
Apprenticeship training allowances
Rehabilitation allowance paid by Kela or insurance company
Health Insurance Act regulated illness allowances, maternity or parental allowance, paternity or parental allowance
Flexible home care basic allowance paid by Kela
Accident insurance daily allowance and disability indemnity
Dependent care allowance paid by the municipality
Private caretaker care income
Research grants
Other continuous personal income
Holiday compensation (5% from gross income per month) since 1.8.2020
Holiday compensation as of 1.1.2024, if the employee has untaken holidays at the end of the employment relationship, the compensation paid for them postpones the start of entitlement to earnings-related daily allowance

Children’s income is considered for children in early childhood education and care

Which kinds of income does not affect the early childhood education and care customer fees?

Child allowance
Child care subsidy
Pensioner care allowance
Increases for children according to legislation
Housing allowance
Disability allowance
Medical expenses performed due to accident insurance
Conscript's allowance
Field allowance
Student financial aid
Housing allowance in student financial aid
Adult education allowance granted by the education fund
Operating aid and travel compensation paid as income support
Maintenance allowance under the Rehabilitation Allowance Act
Maintenance allowance for Labor policy-related adult education under the Rehabilitation Allowance Act
Grants and other comparable aids for studies
Daily allowance paid according to the travel regulations
Expenses compensation such as daily allowance abroad
Child's home care allowance and Oulu’s municipal supplement
Income support

Child support and other expenses caused by actual family relations and traditional life-annuity are subtracted from income.

When do the invoices arrive and when are they due?

The early childhood education and care invoices are charged always retrospectively, for example, November invoices are charged in the beginning of December and the charges are due by the end of December. The fixed due date is the 26th of each month, but mid-week holidays and weekends can affect the due date slightly. It is recommended to adopt e-invoices to reduce the amount of unnecessary paper invoices. Read more on online invoicing.

What is the 12th invoicing month?

The early childhood education and care invoices are charged only for eleven (11) months in a calendar year. If the child has started early childhood education and care 1.8. or earlier, the following year’s July is free of charge, whether the child is in care or not. If the child has started early childhood education and care 1.9. or later, the following year’s July is charged based on the on-call care dates used. If there is no need for early childhood education and care is not needed during the on-call service period, July will be free of charge.

When will there be refunds?

If the child is absent due to illness for eleven (11) or more days during one calendar month, the charge will be halved for that month. If the child is absent due to illness for the whole calendar month, there will be no charge at all for that month. If the child is absent due to some other reason than illness for the whole month, the charge will be halved for that month; if the child uses a single care date during the month, the month will be charged in full. Fall break, Christmas break, and winter break do not affect the early childhood education and care charges. Summertime absences are reviewed case by case.

Changes in family

If there are changes in the family (new marriage or common-law marriage, divorce or common-law divorce), please inform the early childhood education and care customer payment team about it and about possible address changes. E-mail: varhaiskasvatusmaksut@ouka.fi, or tel. 08 558 45300 (on-call service from Tuesday to Thursday from 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m). The charge is defined by the income of the guardian with whom the child lives with, according to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The income of the new spouse or common-law spouse is considered as the family’s income when defining the early childhood education and care charge.

Collecting customer fees from children in preschool during fall break, Christmas break, and winter break

If the child is absent during fall break, Christmas break, or winter break, the charges will not be affected
If a child in preschool or early childhood education and care (full-time) needs full-time care during fall break, Christmas break, or winter break, the charge will be determined based on the used care dates and service need.
If a child in free of charge preschool needs early childhood care during preschool holiday times, a temporary care contract is written with the daycare centre manager and a fixed fee is charged per used care date (full day 17.30€, and for days of five (5) hours or less 10.40€).