Will increase child benefit and remove cash support – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

They recommend increasing child benefit to NOK 31,535 a year and removing contact support. They will also recommend continuous admission to kindergarten. – Child welfare’s value has weakened over time. As long as child benefit is not taxed, it will be expensive to increase and will not provide extra support for the poor, says Mari Rege, leader of the expert committee. Therefore, we will tax child benefit, the report states. – Then the child benefit is redistributed. It will give families with children on a low income a solid increase in income. At the same time, all families with children, apart from the richest 30 per cent, will end up the same as before or better. They recommend that the child benefit will be adjusted with the price increase and that it is partly financed by the abolition of the parental allowance. Mari Rege, professor of social economics at the University of Stavanger, is the leader of the expert committee. Photo: Erik Waage / news The number of poor children in Norwegian families has increased over the past twenty years. 115,000 children will grow up with persistently low income in 2020. Will discontinue contact support Another recommendation is a new model for admission to kindergarten: – Right to kindergarten from the month the child turns one and automatic offer of a place. We also recommend discontinuing the cash support that gives intensively to delay the start of kindergarten, says Rege. It is the Minister for Children and Families, Kjersti Toppe, who receives the report. Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) has appointed the committee which will now come up with a report and recommendations. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Appointed by the government In the Hurdal platform it says “Poverty must be reduced, especially that which affects families with children”. It is this objective that is the basis for the report to be drawn up. The report and recommendations come from an expert group on children in poor families. It was the government that appointed the expert group in August last year. It is rented by Mari Rege. Their task was to assess which measures have the best effect and how the public effort should be prioritised, says their mandate. When Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum presented the Hurdal platform. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB



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