Key Points:
- New guidelines will look at net winnings rather than just winnings from gambling
- Aims to prevent people being put into a difficult financial position
- Approximately 5% of social assistance recipients use their social assistance for gambling
Kela, which is the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, has announced new updates regarding winnings from gambling and social assistance.
With these new guidelines, Kela will take into account net winnings when determining social assistance, rather than only looking into winnings from gambling, which is what the guidelines were before.
The overall idea behind the updated guidelines is to ensure those who receive social assistance aren’t put in a difficult financial position; by looking at just winnings from gambling as income, it may reduce the amount of social assistance a person receives.
With these new guidelines, Kela will look at winnings over a longer period of time rather than one-off transactions.
The government agency has stated that approximately 5% of social assistance recipients use their social assistance for gambling, and underlined that it aims to prevent financial difficulties for those who receive social assistance and help to prevent any harm related to gambling problems.
Kela Benefits Manager Marja-Leena Valkonen said: “We at Kela do not tell our customers how they should use their social assistance, but naturally we are concerned if people with a low income use their money on gambling.
“Social assistance is a last-resort form of financial assistance meant to be used for the payment of daily living expenses such as rent and food. We want to help those whose financial problems are made worse by gambling.”
Finland has undergone big changes in 2024 related to the gambling industry, with the Ministry of the Interior submitting draft legislation for a new gambling act in the country back in July.
The legislation aims to end Veikkaus Oy’s monopoly on betting, online slot machines and casino games, something Gambling Insider delved into within an earlier edition of our magazine this year.
