The Unemployment Fund for Education and Science is intended for those working in education, training, psychology, science, or research. Typical professions among our members include early childhood and classroom teachers, psychologists, researchers, and professionals working in development or advocacy roles in these fields.

You’re also welcome to join if you work in other fields and you have completed at least a bachelor’s degree or you are currently studying it at the moment”

The Fund is for everyone – Including students

If you’re studying to become a teacher, you can join the fund while working as a substitute teacher or teaching assistant during your studies. Similarly, psychology students can join the fund when starting paid internships. Just one hour of paid work is enough to join – as long as the employment contract is valid for that day. We recommend filling out the membership form as soon as your employment start date is confirmed, or at the latest on your first working day. Membership cannot be granted retroactively.

If you don’t land a permanent job right after graduation, support from the unemployment fund is on average twice as much as the basic unemployment benefit from Kela.

Your right to daily allowance builds over time

By joining the fund as a student, you can begin accumulating your work requirement and membership period right away. To qualify for unemployment allowance, you must have been a member for at least 12 months and met the employment condition during that time. All types of work count toward this requirement – including summer jobs or part-time work in retail or other sectors – as long as they are done under an employment contract.

If you join during your studies, you’ll already have a head start toward meeting the eligibility requirements by the time you graduate and enter the job market.

On the day you join, we require that your job relates to your field of study. After that, you can accumulate work credits from jobs in any sector, such as summer or part-time work.

On the day you join, we require that your job relates to your field of study, but otherwise you can accumulate your employment condition in summer jobs and part-time jobs in other fields as well.

Two ways to join the fund

You can become a member of the unemployment fund without joining a trade union. Even if you leave your union, you can remain a member of the fund regardless of your field of work. The annual membership fee for non-union members in 2025 is €60.00 (€5.00/month). If you join now in May, the fee for the rest of 2025 is €40.00.

The unemployment security provided is identical for both individual fund members and those who belong through a union.

You can also choose to complement your unemployment security with additional services offered by trade unions, such as legal support, coaching, and member benefits like discounts.

If you have any questions about joining, we’re happy to help. Welcome to our community!