Cash transfers to families with children (discontinued), 2014

Cash transfers to Norwegian families with children increased in real terms from NOK 35.9 billion in 2013 to NOK 36.4 billion in 2014, or by 1.3 per cent. Payments of parental benefit represented the bulk of the increase, with NOK 0.8 billion or 4.8 per cent in real growth. Payments of child benefit continued to decline in real terms in 2014, by 2.5 per cent, thereby dampening the growth of total cash transfers to families with children. This decline is mainly caused by the fact that the amount received per child has remained unchanged in nominal prices for several years and the removal in 2014 of the supplementary child benefit to families living in Finnmark and Svalbard. A rise in the per-child amount of cash-for-care benefit led to an increase in the payments of total cash-for-care benefits of 11.4 per cent in 2014 in real terms. This represents a reversal of the trend in recent years of declining payments of cash-for-care benefits.

Higher transfers per child in Oslo

Families with children living in Oslo have the highest average payments per child, with NOK 40 400 in 2014. This is partly because there are more people in receipt of parental benefit in Oslo compared to other counties. In Oslo, 23.8 per cent of all recipients of cash transfer to families with children received parental benefit, compared to 18.7 per cent in the country as a whole. Other counties that are above the national average include Rogaland, Hordaland and Sør-Trøndelag. At the bottom of the list we find Hedmark, with NOK 28 500 per child. Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane and Nord-Trøndelag are the other counties where the average transfers per child are below NOK 30 000. Another explanation for the geographical variation is that the average level of wages and salaries is higher in the larger cities. As a consequence, payments of parental benefits are highest in the counties with the largest cities.

Parental benefit to fathers increased more than to mothers

In real terms, total payments of paternal benefit to men increased by 9 per cent in 2014, while the equivalent increase for women was 2.1 per cent. However, the change in the number of fathers and mothers in receipt of the benefit was about the same. The stronger increase in payments of parental benefit to men may be explained by the higher number of days of parental leave taken by men in 2014 compared to 2013. Statistics from The Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) show that men on average took 49 days of parental leave in 2014 compared to 46 days in 2013. Women, on the other hand, took 113 days of parental leave in 2014, which is one day less than in 2013.