– Sweets, coffee, tins of stew, jam. Everything is really possible here, says Stine M. Carlsen. She collects donated food in a trolley from a shop in Fredrikstad. The goods will be delivered to families who do not have enough money to fill the food cupboard. Carlsen works as a volunteer for the organization Help us to help Østfold. More and more people have asked them for help recently. Also people who have never previously needed support. – There are a lot of people who write us messages at night. They lie and wonder whether they have money for food on the table when the children come home from school, says Carlsen. – Now it is the turn of ordinary people to become poor. Food, coffee and kitchen utensils are among the items donated in the shopping basket to the organization Help us to help Østfold. Photo: Caroline Bergli Tolfsen / news – People are afraid The number of voluntary aid organizations is high throughout the country. – People are really scared, says department director Janne Olise Raanes in Kirkens Bymisjon. – It’s about the fear of not being able to put food on the table for the family, about being anxious about keeping the home. More and more people are making contact as electricity, fuel and food continue to cost more. – These are not people who have a cabin on the high mountain that gives an extra electricity bill. They are afraid that the homework will have to be done in an icy children’s room, says Raanes. Record number of applicants for social assistance Nav offices in Østfold are among the busiest in the country. In September, Nav in Fredrikstad received a record number of applications for social assistance. A total of 1,500 applications were submitted, which is 136 more than last year. – We have never had so many people apply for social assistance before. It is connected to the fact that the cost of living is increasing and that the state benefits are not sufficient, says team leader Iren Marie Humlekjær. – We now see that those who just made ends meet earlier, do not get things to go around anymore. Team leader Iren Marie Humlekjær at Nav Fredrikstad has experienced an enormous increase in people who need financial help. Photo: CAROLINE BERGLI TOLFSEN / news The same person can apply for social assistance several times, but Nav has also experienced an enormous increase in applications from people who have never been in contact with Nav before. Humlekjær fears that the increase will continue until Christmas. – There are many people who refuse to contact Nav, but it shouldn’t be that way. We are here to help. Asking the government to step in In 2020, 115,000 children in Norway belonged to a household with a persistently low income. Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad are among the municipalities that top the statistics. In recent years, the economy has tightened further. Janne Olise Raanes in the Church’s City Mission is calling for a clear policy from the government. – In the Hurdal platform, they said that poverty must be reduced, especially that which affects families with children. Now promises must be fulfilled. This is Norway’s biggest welfare challenge, and political solutions are the answer here. The Church’s City Mission asks Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe to come to the field. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas’ Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) is concerned about families with children who have problems dealing with increased prices over the autumn and winter. – High electricity prices, expensive fuel and rising interest rates hit everyone, but hardest on those who have little before. I am genuinely concerned for the families of the children who are struggling. Now it is more important than ever to pursue a policy of redistribution and small differences, she writes in an e-mail to news. The government has already announced that it will give tax relief to those who earn less than NOK 750,000. Now they have also appointed a new expert group on child poverty. – They will give us advice on how we should prioritize our efforts in the coming years, to ensure good growing conditions for children, and reduce the number of children growing up in poor families, says Toppe. – Furthermore, we must manage to prevent poverty from being inherited in the longer term. It will not improve the situation of the families now this autumn, but it will help in the long term.
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Record number of people in Østfold – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
