Around the kitchen table at Moa in Ålesund, it’s time for homework. The children have the best homework help, because mum Mildrid Skogtrø is a nursery school teacher herself. Recently, she has really felt the rise in prices on her wallet. – Food prices have skyrocketed and diesel prices are unbelievably high, says Skogtrø. She is a single mother and in March she bought a block of flats for herself and the children for three million kroner. Now she pays NOK 19,000 a month in building expenses alone. In addition, there is electricity, fuel, tolls, insurance and everything else. Mildrid Skogtrø has explained to the children that they must be sensible in spending money. The family has, among other things, stopped going to the cinema. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Prices rise Prices in Norway were 7.5 per cent higher in September than a year ago, according to Statistics Norway (SSB). This is the highest price increase in Norway for a long time. From September to October, prices rose 0.3 per cent, according to the consumer price index of Statistics Norway. This shows the price development of goods and services from the previous month. The strongest growth is in food products and non-alcoholic beverages, which are up 13.1 per cent in one year. The price increase in recent months is the fastest since the 1980s. Section manager Espen Kristiansen at Statistics Norway says that price growth continues to rise from already very high prices. Photo: Bjørn Olav Nordahl / news – There is a price increase for the vast majority of goods and services, and it is increasing more than it has done in the past. Price growth continues to rise from an already very high level. It is especially the price development of electricity, food and fuel that contributed to the prices being raised to 7.5 per cent in October, says section manager Espen Kristiansen at Statistics Norway. Norges Bank has a target that prices should not rise by more than two per cent a year (the inflation target). The policy interest rate has therefore been raised quickly to bring down the price increase. But Kristiansen does not think the interest rate hike has had its full effect yet. – The interest rates have probably started to affect people’s finances, but it has not dampened demand so much that price growth has slowed down. High price growth An important measure of price increases is core inflation, which is the price increase excluding taxes, fuel and energy prices. This is 5.9 per cent in the last year. – This is up from 5.3 per cent in September. These are numbers we have never seen since we started with the indicator in 2001, says Kristiansen. He does not dare to predict how prices will develop in the run-up to Christmas. – We tend to see that food prices fall somewhat beyond the autumn. We haven’t had that to such a great extent this year, and that is part of the reason for the high price increase that we now have. Jarle Hammerstad, director of industry policy at Virke, believes that the modest decline has a connection with increased costs. – Since last summer, the daily grocery chains have experienced a price increase from suppliers linked to energy, fuel, fertilizer and raw material prices. It has also become more expensive to run a shop, especially because of the electricity prices, says Hammerstad. Jarle Hammerstad, director of industry policy at Virke, says that rising costs have affected the food and drink industry in recent months. Photo: Virke Has two jobs In order for the mother of three in Ålesund to make ends meet financially, she has to get an extra job. This means that she takes shifts in the addiction care center at weekends and public holidays when the children are with their father. – There should be no need for extra work in one of the world’s richest countries, says Skogtrø. The weekend job means that she doesn’t have to lie awake worrying about money. It is also flexible, so that she herself can decide how many guards she wants. – You couldn’t have bought a cheaper house then? – I had the opportunity to buy a cheaper terraced house, but when you are alone there is more work with maintenance and mowing. And I have to live where the children go to school, says Skogtrø. Looking gloomy at the future Even if the single mother counts on her income, she must be careful with her spending and plan purchases and activities. – We have dropped the cinema. It costs us a thousand kroner, says Skogtrø. She knows that many others feel the same way. In the circle of friends, there are several single parents who are having a tough time financially. Skogtrø does not think it will get any easier in the future. – I manage, but it would have been worse if I only had a job. But I don’t want to seem poor. We have so we manage, says the Sunnmøre woman. Mildrid Skogtrø gets help with the dishes before they go off duty for leisure activities. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news
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The teacher has an extra job to make ends meet
