– We have friends and family with two and three children who wonder if they should move to Hjelmeland because there is a free nursery school, says Victoria Øvstebø Gausland. She and her family have already done it. Bought a house and moved to Årdal in Hjelmeland municipality. Lena and the cat have moved from Strand municipality to the neighboring municipality of Hjelmeland. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news In 2021, the majority parties Sp, SV and MDG decided that the municipality should pick up the entire bill for the kindergartens. The intention was to get families with children who already live in the municipality to stay, and to get families with children from other places to move to the municipality. – For us, it was decisive for us to move. Now we have one child. If we are going to have more, childcare is a big expense that we will now avoid. Around 200 municipalities are considered district municipalities. According to Statistics Norway, the population will decrease in many of these municipalities in the coming years. In Hjelmeland, there is a need for more employees, both in the municipality and in the private business world. Many people commute to the municipality to work there. The politicians hope some of them will take the step and settle there. – We have room for many more children in our kindergartens, so you just have to come, says deputy mayor Harald Ommundsen (Sp). Hjelmeland municipality has around 2,600 inhabitants. After several years of decline, there has been a slight upswing after free kindergarten was introduced. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news He smiles happily outside Hjelmeland kindergarten. The opposition the proposal received from the other parties before it was adopted is in the process of disappearing. Need more residents – We were against free kindergarten when it was in the 2021 budget. We would rather reduce the payment. But now I want to vote for continuation, because I hear that people want to move here. We need more residents, says Gaute Hauge, first candidate for Ap in Hjelmeland. With around 2,600 inhabitants, it costs NOK 4.5 million a year to have a free nursery school. – We have the finances for this. We wanted to take good care of the children’s families, and then the daycare bill was something we could do something about, says Ommundsen. After several years of decline in the population, the situation has reversed this year. 85 more than last year. Whether it is due to free kindergarten, no one knows yet. In Nord-Troms and Finnmark, all kindergartens became free from 1 August. There, it is the state that foots the bill, precisely so that more people will settle in the far north. – Free kindergarten is positive for those who live there, but it may not be a big enough draw for families with children from outside if they do not already have a connection to the place, says sociologist Marita Uglem Remøy. Sociologist and researcher Marita Uglem Remøy Photo: Private She has written a master’s thesis on moving back to the countryside, and is researching the development in District Norway in Ruralis (formerly the Center for Rural Research). Offers trial housing for two years What characterizes those who move to a district municipality are close ties from before, a desire to move to the village and attractive positions, research shows. Uglem believes that Kvitsøy’s offer of trial housing is a better measure than Hjelmeland’s free kindergartens in order to attract more residents, and especially families with children. Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland, and one of the country’s smallest municipalities also in terms of population. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news – What makes the probationers at Kvitsøy successful is that they have local sponsors who help the probationers get a job and the social environment in the municipality. Camilla Garvik de Azúa has taken advantage of the offer at Kvitsøy. She got a position she wanted in the municipality, but wasn’t sure if island life was for her. Camilla Garvik de Azúa Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news – It’s a small society, and that’s good and bad. When the municipality offered affordable housing to get to know the island and what it’s like to live here, we accepted it. It is not certain that I would have lived here without a trial apartment. In October, the three of the Garvik de Azúa family have lived on Kvitsøy for two years. That is as long as it is possible to try out. – I want to continue living here. We have been looking at houses to buy. Waiting list Right now the municipality has a waiting list for people who want to try living. And that without having advertised the offer elsewhere than on the municipality’s website and in social media. – The feedback is positive. We feel that those who come are investing in the local environment, so we think it has been a success so far, says mayor Stian Giil Bjørsvik (KrF/Tverrpolitisk) It’s harsh on Kvitsøy, but Camilla Garvik de Azúa has created a kitchen garden on the terrace of the apartment she, her husband and three-year-old son rent from the municipality. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Kvitsøy is Norway’s smallest municipality in area and has around 520 inhabitants. The wish is to bring more families with children to the island municipality. The mayor is unsure whether the trial housing has increased the population. – It has been three years since we started this. There is political agreement to continue the offer. Mayor Stian Giil Bjørsvik (KrF/Tverrpolitisk) on Kvitsøy Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Many municipalities do like Hjelmeland and Kvitsøy, and offer various benefits to get people to choose their municipality. – It is very important that the municipalities are accessible and visible. But it is not possible for all municipalities that want more residents to make it happen, says Uglem Remøy. Frøya has got it Small district municipalities that work together to create jobs, have a functioning housing market and create small town centers across the municipalities have a greater chance of success, the researcher believes. – It may be important not only to attract families with children. The marketing should also target the young, the elderly and lifestyle emigrants. It will make the place more attractive, and it will also attract families with children in the long term. Sistranda is the municipal center in Frøya municipality Photo: Morten Andersen / news Frøya municipality in Trøndelag is one of the few that has succeeded in getting families with children to move to it. The population has increased from less than 5,000 a few years ago to 5,400 inhabitants today. Many well-paid jobs in the fishing industry attract people to the municipality. Among other things, one of the world’s largest seafood companies, SalMar, has its headquarters on Frøya. But there are not enough jobs. – The many companies on Frøya have meant that there is money to set up sports halls and cultural centers. It is important that it is an offer outside of work. We have focused on that here, says municipal manager for education and culture Margit Kristiansen Myrseth. There is plenty of space in the kindergartens in Hjelmeland. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Envious of free kindergarten In Hjelmeland, Hanna Sande has just picked up her son Johannes from kindergarten. Hanna Sande is satisfied that she does not have to pay for a nursery place. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news After the kindergarten became free, expenses have dropped by NOK 3,000 a month. When she had two children in kindergarten, it cost NOK 6,000 a month. – Free nursery school is absolutely perfect for us. I hear a lot of people who are envious of us in other municipalities, but not that they are going to move to Hjelmeland.
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Lena attends a free nursery school: – It was decisive for moving here
