The survivors’ pension secures the income of the surviving spouse and children when the family’s other provider dies. The earnings-related survivors’ pension consists of the surviving spouse’s pension and the orphan’s pension. The reform of the surviving spouse’s pension scheme took effect on 1 January 2022.

Who is entitled to a survivors’ pension?

Under certain conditions, the survivors’ pension is paid to the deceased person’s married or common-law spouse. Same-sex parties to a registered relationship are comparable to married spouses.

The orphan’s pension is paid to the deceased person’s children under the age of 20. The children of a surviving spouse are also entitled to the orphan’s pension if their parent and step-parent were married and the children lived in the same household with their parent and deceased step-parent.

A married surviving spouse is entitled to the surviving spouse’s pension if:

• the surviving spouse has, or has had, a child (biological or adopted) together with the deceased and the spouses married before the deceased reached the age of 65; or
• the spouses married before the deceased reached the age of 65 and the surviving spouse reached the age of 50, the marriage had continued for at least five years, the surviving spouse has reached the age of 50 at the time of the spouse’s death, or the surviving spouse has been long-term disabled.

A common-law spouse is entitled to the surviving spouse’s pension if:

• the deceased spouse died in 2022 or later;
• the surviving common-law spouse has a dependent child under the age of 18 together with the deceased;
• the surviving common-law spouse and the deceased shared a household for at least five years before the deceased passed away;
• the surviving common-law spouse and the deceased moved together into a shared household before the deceased spouse turned 65; and
• Neither common-law spouse was married to another person.

A former spouse of the deceased may be entitled to a surviving spouse’s pension if the deceased was ordered to pay alimony to the former spouse on the basis of a legally valid decision or an agreement confirmed by the social services board.

More on other sites:

• Surviving spouse’s pension and orphan’s pension protect the family (Työeläke.fi)

Surviving spouse’s pension paid for a fixed period

A surviving spouse who was married to the deceased person receives the surviving spouse’s pension for the rest of their life if the surviving spouse was born before 1975 or if the spouse passed away before 1 January 2022. A surviving spouse born in 1975 or later will be paid the surviving spouse’s pension for 10 years or until the youngest of the children receiving an orphan’s pension turns 18.

A common-law surviving spouse will be paid the survivor’s pension until the youngest of the shared children turns 18.

If the surviving spouse remarries before reaching the age of 50, the surviving spouse’s pension ends.

Number of beneficiaries affects pension amount

The basis of the survivors’ pension is the deceased person’s earnings-related pension. If the deceased did not get a pension or drew a partial disability pension or a part-time pension, the survivor’s pension is calculated on the basis of a computational disability pension.

If the survivors’ pension is based on the deceased person’s disability pension or computational disability pension, a lump-sum increase is made to the survivors’ pension five years after the onset of the survivors’ pension or the disability pension.

The survivors’ pension is calculated based on the deceased person’s pension right and is affected by the number of beneficiaries. At most, the amount of the survivors’ pension and the orphan’s pensions is the size of the pension of the deceased.

As of the beginning of 2022, the computational share of the surviving spouse’s pension may be paid as an orphan’s pension to the children if there is no surviving spouse who is entitled to the surviving spouse’s pension. In that case, the total amount of the survivors’ pension is divided between the children.

The deceased person’s old-age pr disability pension that the survivors’ pension is based on has been multiplied with the life expectancy coefficient, so the survivors’ pension is not separately multiplied with the life expectancy coefficient.

The surviving spouse’s and the children’s share of the pension

No of children	0	1	2	3	4-
Surviving spouse’s pension	6/12	6/12	5/12	3/12	2/12
Orphan’s pension	–	4/12	7/12	9/12	10/12
Total	6/12	10/12	12/12	12/12	12/12

More on other sites:

• Surviving spouse’s pension and orphan’s pension calculator (Tyoelake.fi)

Surviving spouse’s pension reduced based on own pension

The survivors’ pension compensates for the financial loss caused by the death of the family’s other provider. In order for the surviving spouse’s income to correspond to the level before the death of the other spouse, a deduction is made to the surviving spouse’s pension based on the surviving spouse’s own pension or computational disability pension.

The surviving spouse’s pension is reduced at the onset of the pension if the surviving spouse is over 65 years or receives an earnings-related pension. However, the surviving spouse’s pension is not reduced as long as the the surviving spouse has a dependent child under the age of 18 who receives an orphan’s pension. The surviving spouse’s pension of a childless surviving spouse under the age of 65 is reduced as of when the surviving spouse has received the surviving spouse’s pension for six month.

The surviving spouse’s pension is reduced if the surviving spouse’s own pension is more than 818.50 euros (in 2024). The amount of the deduction made to the full surviving spouse’s pension is half of the difference between the surviving spouse’s own pension and the above-mentioned limit.

In some cases, no survivor’s pension is paid because of the surviving spouse’s own income. The deduction usually affects the amount of the surviving spouse’s pension paid to the widower since, on average, men’s income is higher than women’s. Roughly one third of the male surviving spouses get no surviving spouse’s pension at all due to the deduction of the survivors’ pension. For female surviving spouses, the equivalent share is about 6 per cent.

In 2023, the average earnings-related surviving spouse’s pension (excluding pensions of zero euros) was 722 euros/month. On average, the monthly surviving spouse’s pension for women was 766 euros and for men 378 euros.

Other benefits after the death of a family provider

In addition to the survivors’ pension benefits paid from the earnings-related pension scheme, the family members may be entitled to

• the survivors’ pension from the national pension scheme,
• a survivors’ pension paid from the workers’ compensation insurance or the motor liability insurance,
• compensation from the Employees’ Group Life Insurance Pool, or
• a survivors’ pension paid on the basis of the employment of the deceased in EU/EEA countries or other social security agreement countries.

The initial pension and the basic amount of the orphan’s pension paid from the national pension scheme are paid regardless of income. The continuing pension of a surviving spouse and the supplement to the orphan’s pension are income-tested.

The workers’ compensation insurance and the motor liability insurance are mandatory. Their benefits are primary in relation to earnings-related pensions. The Employees’ Group Life Insurance covers nearly all wage-earners and entitles to a flat-rate lump-sum compensation.

In addition to statutory and occupational insurance, the insurance cover may be topped up with a supplementary pension taken out by the employer, private pension insurance or life insurance.

More on other sites:

• Survivor benefits (kela.fi)
• When a close family member dies (Suomi.fi)

2022 reform of survivors’ pensions

The surviving spouse’s pensions were reformed on 1 January 2022:

• The surviving spouse’s pension became payable for a fixed term (10 years) for recipients born in 1975 and later.
• The surviving spouse’s pension became payable to common-law spouses under certain conditions.
• The orphan’s pension became payable until the child turns 20 (previous age limit was 18 years).
• The computational share of the surviving spouse’s pension became payable to the children if there was no surviving spouse.