YTK Unemployment Fund membership fee to be reduced moderately next year

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• Membership
• YTK

The level of the membership fee reflects the slowly recovering economy and the Fund’s commitment to financial responsibility.

The YTK Unemployment Fund’s membership fee for 2025 will decrease slightly. Riikka Koski, Finance Director, says that the membership fee for 2025 will be 102 €, which is 3 € less than in 2024. 

There are several factors that will influence the reduction of the membership fee. The most important of these are the changes in the law, which will reduce the average daily allowance.

“Recent changes in the law, such as the staggering of the daily allowance, have a big impact. Benefit expenditure will fall next year as the impact of the law changes increases,” says Riikka Koski.

The new employment services will bring some additional costs in the start-up phase. But the impact will be temporary.

“In the long-term, our aim is that the investment in employment services for our members will be reflected in lower benefit expenditure through shorter periods of unemployment.” Riikka Koski adds.

For next year, the membership fee will be lowered moderately, as the YTK is firmly committed to financial responsibility. Koski stresses that further reductions in membership fees may be considered in future years if the financial situation allows.

Employment situation affects membership fees

As the economy recovers, employment growth follows with a delay. Unemployment could therefore remain quite high even if the economystarts to slowly recover in the near future. 

The forecast for 2025 averages an unemployment rate of 7.8%, only 0.3 percentage points lower than in the updated forecasts for the current year. This contributes to the fact that the unemployment fund has not embarked on radical changes.

“The economy is getting over the worst, but unemployment is slow to respond to economic developments,” Koski says. “At this point, it is better to be a little pessimistic than overly optimistic, as there are no very big bright spots in the economy yet.”

The precautionary principle guides action

The YTK Unemployment Fund’s investment activity is sustainable and stable, but its impact on member contributions is considered limited. The YTK applies the principle of prudence and does not take into account unrealised investment income in determining membership contributions.

“Our investment performance has been in line with expectations, but we remain cautious about future returns,” Koski explains.

Responsible financial management creates security

The YTK aims to ensure financial sustainability through planning and a long-term vision. According to Riikka Koski, continuous financial monitoring and calculations from different perspectives are key to the treasury’s financial management.

“Ensuring financial sustainability requires continuous planning and forecasting. We strive to keep the reserve ratio and the membership fee steady to avoid sudden changes for our members.” Koski says.

The YTK is also looking at ways to further improve the use of financial data. “In the future, we can develop ways to better combine external data with the data we produce ourselves,” Koski predicts.