Gro Maren Skjæveland is ten years old. She goes to primary school in Stavanger and is violently bullied. – I had my head stuffed in the toilet, my hair burned. I was hit, beaten, kicked. The bullies destroyed my clothes and watches, she claims. According to Skjæveland, the bullying continued through secondary school. – Those years were spent surviving everyday life. No self-worth When she started high school, the bullying subsided. Skjæveland put a lid on everything. She finished high school and found work. She worked for a temp agency. At the age of 23, the trauma from primary school returned. – One day I couldn’t get up and stayed lying down. I became mentally ill and completely hit the wall. It was ten years before she returned to working life. – It was a difficult time. I had no self worth. I had whispered myself out in the quest to find acceptance from others. When you’re bullied like I was, the only thing that matters is belonging. The disabled single mother asks Vedum and Brenna how it will pay off for her to work. Fought back In 2011, Skjæveland started as a trailer driver. – After quite a few years, I manage to fight my way back to working life. I wanted more from life and things are going very well, she says. For seven years, Skjæveland ran routes all over Norway. But the trip from Oslo to Stavanger in 2018 was the last trip. NO MAKE-UP: Gro Maren Skjæveland on her way into the Debatten studio, where she will talk about her everyday life without make-up. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news – I never came back. After a few years, I feel that this wears on the body. I’m on sick leave a lot and in pain. Couldn’t do my job anymore. Skjæveland is offered a wheelchair. She rolls when she has to and walks when she can. In the end, she has to choose between AAP and disability benefits. OPENS UP: Gro Maren Skjæveland tells of a traumatic childhood that was marked by bullying. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news Lost hundreds of thousands – I took back disability benefits and lost enormously financially from it. I went from a salary of over NOK 680,000 down to the minimum disability benefit, which at the time was NOK 296,000 a year. She studied in the meantime and finished in 2022. Last week, she followed Trygve Slagsvold Vedum’s financial speech: “For me and this government, the work line is absolutely central. The work line is about giving people the opportunity to participate in working life, while at the same time we have a safety net that looks after those who are unable to work. The goal is for as many people as possible to work. That is why it must be worth getting up in the morning.” CLOSE ON: Skjæveland doesn’t hold back when she tells why the Government’s proposal provokes her Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news What the finance minister said from the podium provoked her: – I felt I was quite pissed off. I had expected more from the current government. I’ve been fighting time and time again. Vedum just had to know. It is provocative to hear that they think it depends on my will and not my ability. New employment policy – What did you expect? – I had expected them to take poverty seriously. There are queues outside the poorhouse. But it was not mentioned in a word. We are many hundreds of thousands of people in this country who feel that the economy is getting tighter and tighter, says Skjæveland. WHEELCHAIR: Gro Maren Skjæveland was offered a wheelchair due to health problems. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news On Thursday, she met the Labor Party’s deputy leader Tonje Brenna in the Debate. Brenna has led the work on setting out a new labor policy for the party. To news on Monday, she said that she believes the left is far too concerned with increasing benefits rather than finding ways to get more people into work. – But isn’t it good that they want people to work? – If I had been in good health, not working would not have been an option. But I can’t do it, my body goes crazy every time. I go straight to the ground. I work some days at the vocational school. But there are days when I physically can’t get up. On my bad days I can’t get out the door. Don’t understand the system – What will it take to get you into work? – I don’t know if I will find work. My health dictates that I should not work at all. But it is very draining on the body. It is bitter to know that because I want to work, make an effort, I will lose out on it. I contribute to the best of my ability. HAD A JOB: For seven years, Skjæveland drove routes all over Norway. But the trip from Oslo to Stavanger in 2018 was the last trip. Photo: Ismail Burak Akkan / news – But this is about those who have the opportunity to work? – The disease I have is a genetic defect which means that I will never recover. My full-time job is to take care of my health, says Skjæveland. A few times a month, Skjæveland works at the Vocational School for Mental Health. There she teaches mental health for four hours in the evening. That makes her go over 0.4G. – It is shortened kroner for kroner the more I work. They look at salary income gross, while housing benefit is net. So when it says that I have a salary payment of NOK 3,000, I am not left with more than NOK 1,800 of that. I get scared of earning too much, because I lose out on it, she says and adds: – Brenna and Vedum have to face reality. They don’t understand what the system is like. It seems that they speak from ideologies about how the system should have been, and then they don’t understand it. – It is about an overall assessment In Thursday’s broadcast of the Debate on news, parliamentary representative for the Center Party, Marit Knutsdatter Strand, is confronted with Vedum’s statement. TOUGH TIMES: – It’s about an overall assessment where we are in tough times, we actually have to make ends meet in the national budget, says parliamentary representative for the Center Party, Marit Knutsdatter Strand. Photo: NTB Strand believes the finance minister’s statement holds up well. – Trygve makes a good and important point, namely that we need people in work. We live off each other’s work. It is about an overall assessment where we are in tough times. – Who is he referring to who will get up in the morning? – I think he speaks to everyone who gets up in the morning, everyone who goes on night duty, everyone who makes an effort, says Strand. Strand also points out that the Storting has said that they will look at the system. – Exactly where that border should go, we have to do something about that. Brenna was also confronted with the Storting’s policy during Thursday’s debate. She believes it is a problem that people do not dare to work more because they are afraid of losing income. – I am concerned that we have a system that does not really help those who have a desire to work more to do so. And that those who want to work, but do not know how much they can work in the future, do not dare to take the risk, says Brenna. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
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Disability Gro Skjæveland reacts to comments from the Labor Party about disability – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
