Nearly nine out of 10 reports are responded to within one week

In 1995, Norwegian child welfare authorities received reports about 16,700 children in need of help. Nearly one out of five reports concerned neglect or abuse. An equal percentage was in regard to children with behavioural problems. As to the remainder, "Conditions in the home, special needs" and "Other" were checked off to describe the nature of the reports. Eighty-seven per cent of the cases were concluded within one week.

In 1995, child welfare authorities received an average of 16 reports per 1,000 children under the age of 18. The highest rates were seen in Finnmark, Vestfold and Nordland, with respectively 22, 21 and 20 reports per 1,000 children. Østfold, Telemark and Oslo are also clearly above the national average. The percentage was the lowest in Sogn og Fjordane and Oppland, with respectively 11 and 12 reports per 1,000 children.

New Statistics

Reports to the child welfare authorities, 1995.
Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Social Statistics. More information: Trygve Kalve, tel. +47 21 09 46 49, e-mail: tak@ssb.no and Johanna Sørøy, tel. +47 21 09 46 41, e-mail: jsr@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 49, 1996