– This is brilliant. The arrangement in Hå is completely unique. It has made it financially possible for us to be at home with the children until they are three years old, says father of six Jan Arvid Søyland at Hå in Rogaland. In the course of 12 years, he and his wife Inga Helene have thus had six children. – It’s rarely quiet here. But after all, we have chosen it ourselves, says Jan Arvid. For Inga Helene, cash support from both the state and the municipality has come in handy, and the couple have used the scheme for four of their children. Now she is at home with her six-month-old stepdaughter. It is likely that the couple will also be able to make use of the municipal scheme for their daughter when she turns two. Jan Arvid and his wife Inga Helene Søyland have used Hå municipality’s municipal cash support scheme for four out of six children. Now Sophia (6 months) will probably also benefit from the scheme. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news The municipality has its own scheme Hå municipality has had a municipal cash support scheme from the age of two up to and including the age of three. Alice Haver is at the playground with Fredrik (1.5) and siblings Endre and Hanna. The two oldest children started kindergarten when they were one year old. Now she will be at home with Fredrik until he turns three. – That I can get this choice is fantastic. It is a sigh of relief from a mother to have the freedom to choose to be at home with her children, and not have to send them into an institution from the age of eight months, she says. VG could report on Friday that the government will now cut the national cash support scheme. The proposal is that the scheme will now apply from when the child is 13 months old, until the child is 19 months old. Today, the scheme applies from the age of 13 months up to and including the age of 23 months. Olav (7), Hugo (9), Elias (3) and Alvin (5) in the Søyland family in Hå municipality have all been at home from kindergarten until they turned three. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Important matter for the mayor Hå municipality has long been a staunch defender of cash support. The municipality of Jær is the country’s most generous for those who choose to stay at home with the youngest children. Mayor Jonas Skrettingland (KrF) in Hå says the question of whether they should cover the period the state is now cutting will come up. For him and his party, it is an important issue to take care of, on the basis that the family should have freedom of choice. He therefore wants the municipality to expand the scheme, if the state cuts its own. – But we have to see if we can expand the scheme within our budget, says Skrettingland. Mayor of Hå municipality, Jonas Skrettingland (KrF), wants to extend the municipal cash support scheme if the government cuts the national one. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news In the municipality, there are gradually fewer people who have made use of the scheme, which gives families who do not have a nursery place in excess of NOK 5,200 per month per child between the ages of two and three. – But the families with children who use it really appreciate it, says Skrettingland. A difficult calculation How much extra it will cost the municipality to cover the four months that the state is now cutting is a difficult calculation. But he believes that KrF has broad support from the other parties in the municipality when it comes to the scheme. Alice Haver, mother of young children, is pleased. – It is enormously good, and I am proud of the municipality that chooses to invest in this, she says. Although Hå provides the most, the scheme also exists in other municipalities. Among other things, Giske, Randaberg and Karmøy have municipal cash support. The national cash support scheme provides around NOK 7,500 per child per month.
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The government will cut the cash support – Hå municipality will pick up the extra bill – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
