Norway has come up with a way to increase the birth rate using monetary incentives

Norwegian Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said he would encourage more people to work through tax cuts. At the same time, such tactics, according to the official, will help increase the birth rate in Norway.

Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said he would prioritize supporting families with children over tax breaks. Such a decision, in his opinion, will affect the increase in the birth rate in Norway.

The number of children living in low-income households is the lowest since 2016 in Norway. This shows that child benefit is a good tool, says the Minister of Finance. Throughout the 2000s, the number of children in families in the Scandinavian country grew.

The share and number of children in families with lower than average incomes has fallen for the second year in a row, new data from Statistics Norway (SSB) showed in NYE statsstatistisk sentralbyr.

“It is very good that the number of children living in poverty is decreasing,” says Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum. He also leads a party that passionately advocates for increased child benefits while emphasizing the importance of employment.

Let us recall that in the kingdom in the fall of 2019, the child benefit was increased for the first time since 1996 – since then it has increased even more. According to Statistics Norway, the decline in the number of young children occurred at the same time as government policymakers increased child benefit rates.

“This shows that child benefits are a very good tool,” says the Minister of Finance, “We must take new tax steps that will reduce the burden on working people. He adds that it will also reduce the tax burden, especially for low-income families.

In a conversation with NRK, the Norwegian Minister of Finance emphasizes that the Ministry of Finance will now give priority to helping families with children.

This new economic policy is linked to the fact that the number of children in the country as a whole is declining. In the period 2020-2022, there were almost 9 thousand fewer children than in 2019-2021. Moreover, these figures apply to those children who live in persistently low-income families. According to Statistics Norway, Ukrainian refugees are not taken into account here, since the calculation assumes that they must live in Norway for three years.

Progress Party immigration policy spokesman Erlend Viborg believes that the Liberal Party, by accepting many immigrants, is contributing to the growth of child poverty in Norway.

“Unfortunately, in Norway there is a general increase in so-called child poverty, which is inextricably linked to immigration, since 6 out of 10 families with a permanent low income are of immigrant origin,” explains Erlend Viborg.

The decision of the Ministry of Finance is also influenced by rising prices in the country from 2022. Socialist Left Party leader Kirsty Bergsto, who usually opposes the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is backing the policy this time: “This shows that measures to get people into work, good distribution policies, increases in child benefits and payments, and reductions in the prices of kindergarten and after-school services effective for families with children so that they have more livelihood. This is good for everyone, but especially important for those who have the least.”

And Conservative Party second-in-command and finance spokesman Tina Bru is concerned about children still living in families with difficult financial circumstances.

“In recent years the Conservative Party has been preoccupied with increasing child benefits and cutting taxes to offset rising prices. At the same time, we will focus on proposals such as free basic time in kindergarten and maximum parental payment in the after-school program,” admits Storting member Tina Bru.