Check your salary in the table and compare: it pays to be a member of a fund, especially the YTK
Blog
Topics
- Income security
- Member benefit
- YTK
When colleagues told me long ago that there was a YTK Unemployment Fund, joining as a young creative worker was a quick decision. Easy to join online, pay once a year and it was done. I didn’t think about the need for the protection or the future twists and turns in my career, rather I ticked off one of the responsible tasks of adulthood as done.
At the time – a couple of decades ago – you could get a year’s worth of income protection for about the same price as today. Of course, my salary has improved over the years and as I have taken on more responsibility. So the security is much more useful now than when I was younger, yet the membership fee has remained at a moderate level. More recently, inflation has had a mostly upward effect on salaries, but much less so on the YTK membership fee, for example. The benefits are therefore even greater.
For me, the acquisition of income security has always been more a spiritual than a financial issue. It is for the 92% or so of our members who do not currently need unemployment benefits. It is a peace of mind insurance for those moments when, for one reason or another, there is no work. But for those who do need financial support at a time of unemployment, membership of the Fund is an excellent benefit and one that pays for itself in one month.
Income security is still a worthwhile monetary benefit
During the winter, the government’s cuts to income support and their impact on the support paid by unemployment funds have been a topic of discussion. It is clear that if you happen to be in the group of unemployed people who will be hit hard by all the cuts, your benefit levels will fall. In the past, you could get up to 240 € more a month in income support if you had children to support. This benefit, known as the child increase, will be abolished in April this year. The reduction in the amount of money available in the economy is a nerve-wracking situation that is not easy to adjust to.
The average wage for a Finnish woman is around 3,400 € and for a man 4,100 €. If a woman on such a salary were to become unemployed now, she would receive a daily earnings-related allowance of around 1,900 € and a man around 2,100 € before tax. If she has not joined the fund but has been working and is therefore entitled to Kela’s basic daily allowance, they would each receive around 800 € a month, well over 1,000 € less. Every month. The math is flawless, the income support still pays. The membership fee is paid many times over in just one month, even if the monthly salary is small.
The YTK has a particularly overwhelming advantage
As a member of the YTK Unemployment Fund, I have also been able to join the YTK Worklife. With its 24 € annual fee, I get quite an extra security package for the twists and turns of my working life. Accident insurance covers up to 8,000 € worth of expenses, labour law lawyers are on hand to personally help me with my case if needed, and extensive training and other benefits bring up to thousands of euros in benefits in return for the 24 € fee.
For the same amount of money, there is simply no such thing as a good package for working life and its twists and turns.
Mathematics is now more clearly on the side of membership, and in particular combined membership of the YTK. For the same amount of money, there is simply no package as good for working life and its twists and turns.
Once upon a time, an advertisement stated that certain things in life were “priceless”. Even if the annual price of a membership and the YTK’s work-life services is 129 euros, the value they bring seems many times more valuable.
| Monthly Salary | Fund member’s earnings security monthly | Basic daily allowance paid by Kela monthly |
| 2500 € | 1 523 € | 800 € |
| 2600 € | 1 566 € | 800 € |
| 2700 € | 1 609 € | 800 € |
| 2800 € | 1 653 € | 800 € |
| 2900 € | 1 696 € | 800 € |
| 3000 € | 1 739 € | 800 € |
| 3100 € | 1 783 € | 800 € |
| 3200 € | 1 826 € | 800 € |
| 3300 € | 1 869 € | 800 € |
| 3400 € | 1 912 € | 800 € |
| 3500 € | 1 956 € | 800 € |
| 3600 € | 1 999 € | 800 € |
| 3700 € | 2 036 € | 800 € |
| 3800 € | 2 055 € | 800 € |
| 3900 € | 2 074 € | 800 € |
| 4000 € | 2 093 € | 800 € |
| 4100 € | 2 113 € | 800 € |
| 4200 € | 2 132 € | 800 € |
| 4300 € | 2 151 € | 800 € |
| 4400 € | 2 171 € | 800 € |
| 4500 € | 2 190 € | 800 € |
Note! Income is gross income, i.e. before tax. Other benefits are not included in the table.
Ilona Kangas
Director of Employment ServicesI help our members and employees to succeed at work in many different ways. I lead and develop the activities of YTK Worklife and am responsible for managing customer experience, marketing and communications in YTK Work life services and fund services.