[ad_1]
POVERTY: Since 2006, the number of children in the population has increased by 2.7 percent, while the number of children in low-income groups has increased by as much as 70.8 percent, according to Statistics Norway. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB
115,500 children lived in low-income families in 2019, up 11.7 percent. Four out of ten children of immigrant origin live in relative poverty. The Church City Mission hopes the government and the Storting will reverse the trend of poverty.
After several weak years, Norwegian households had positive income development in 2019.
However, the number of children who, over a three-year period, had persistently low family incomes, increased by 4,000 to 115,000 children, according to a report from Statistics Norway. The proportion has risen steadily since 2011, to 11.7 percent.
It is worse for children with an immigrant background. Of all the children in the low-income group, 67,700 were immigrants. This corresponds to 58.8 percent. In this group, the increase has also been greater.
– This has a clear connection to the fact that households with a weak connection to the labor market are more exposed to low incomes, writes Statistics Norway.
As of 2013, these children account for more than half of all persistent low-income children. Children of immigrant origin constitute 18% of all children and 39.1% of them belong to a household with persistent low income.
Save the Children reacts strongly and is concerned that economic inequality has exploded during the pandemic. They warn that the numbers are likely to be much higher now.
ANSWERING: Nora Lie at Save the Children. Photo: Nora Lie / Save the Children
– We believe that the big impact will come next year and the years to come. The time has definitely come for a major crisis package for children and youth in the budgets to come, says Monica Sydgård, program director for Save the Children Norway.
More than 70 percent since 2006
Between 2008 and 2011, the proportion of children in low-income families remained relatively stable, between 7.6% and 7.7%. In 2015, Norway surpassed 10 per cent and the following year the figure surpassed 100,000 children for the first time.
Since 2006, the number of children in the population has increased by 2.7%, while the number of children in low-income groups has increased by up to 70.8%.
People born into low-income families are at increased risk for negative health outcomes, and the mental health of young people has been shown to suffer, writes Statistics Norway.
Since 2011, the youngest children, aged 0 to 5, have been the most represented, with 12.7% in 2019. Among children aged 6 to 10, the proportion was 12.2%. The proportion is lower among children aged 11 to 17, at 10.8%.
The Church’s City Mission expects the trend to reverse
– It is sad and worrying to witness a spiral of poverty in constant decline in our country. We hope both the government and the Storting understand the need to crack down on poverty and are able to reverse the trend, says Secretary General Adelheid Firing Hvambsal at Church City Mission on the new report figures .
She notes that there has been a sharp increase in the number of children in poor families during Solberg’s reign. During Erna Solberg’s term as Prime Minister, the proportion of poor families with children increased by 3.1 percentage points: from 8.6% to 11.7% of all children, the organization writes in a press release.
RESPOND: General Secretary Adelheid fires Hvambsal at Church City Mission. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
– The main theme for all parties towards the elections should be to reverse the trend that more and more children are growing up in poverty. Completely different measures are needed to lift families and children out of poverty than we have seen so far to stall the growing differences, Hvambsal says.
Reduced purchasing power
Statistics Norway has compared the income cap since 2009 and suggests positive income development through 2013 for families with children with the lowest incomes.
The positive trend slowed from 2013, mainly between 2016 and 2018, before there was any increase between 2018 and 2019.
– In recent years, families with children at the bottom of the income distribution have seen their purchasing power reduced. It remains to be seen whether the flattening in 2019 will continue into the pandemic year 2020, writes Statistics Norway.
Increase in large municipalities
It is in the largest municipalities where children are most exposed to low incomes, but Statistics Norway points to a large variation between municipalities: among the fifteen largest municipalities, the difference between Tromsø, with 6.9%, reached 19.1% in Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg overtook Drammen in 2019 and became the municipality with the highest proportion of low-income children.
Large municipalities have experienced a large increase in recent years. In five years, the increase is greatest in Fredrikstad and Stavanger, with an increase of 4.4 and 4 percentage points, respectively.
Participation has increased less in Asker, by 0.7 percentage points. In Oslo, the increase has been relatively modest and the share appears to have stabilized at around 17.7 and 17.8 percent in 2016.
