Norway's government to slash kindergarten costs
The price cap on a kindergarten place will be cut to 2,000 kroner per month from next August, the Norwegian government announced on Tuesday.
The government announced Tuesday that the cost of a kindergarten place in Norway will be cut by 1,000 kroner a month from the beginning of August 2024.
"This is an important day for the government. We are today launching a welfare boost for the whole country which will benefit families with children from north to south," Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Støre said of the new policy.
He said that an increasing cost of living was one of the reasons the government will impose a maximum monthly cap of 2,000 kroner on a kindergarten place.
Støre, finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, children's minister Kjersti Toppe and education minister Tonje Brenna were all present at a kindergarten in Saprsobrg, southeast Norway, to announce the proposal on Tuesday.
Kindergarten places would be made even cheaper in less central areas of the country. Municipalities in Norway are ranked 1-6 on centrality. The closer to work and other essential services municipalities are, the more central they are considered.
In areas with a centrality rating of 5-6, the cost of a monthly kindergarten place will be reduced even further to 1,500 kroner.
Finance minister Vedum said the policy is being paid for by increased taxes on salmon farming introduced last year.
When the change comes into practice, the maximum price a family will pay for kindergarten a month will be 3,400 kroner – excluding other costs such as food.
This is because a discount is applied to the second child of the same family in a kindergarten. A family's third child and onwards receive a free space if they attend the same kindergarten as their siblings at the same time.
Earlier this year, kindergarten was made free for children in the action zone in Troms and Finnmark.
READ MORE: The incentives to attract people to northern Norway
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The government announced Tuesday that the cost of a kindergarten place in Norway will be cut by 1,000 kroner a month from the beginning of August 2024.
"This is an important day for the government. We are today launching a welfare boost for the whole country which will benefit families with children from north to south," Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Støre said of the new policy.
He said that an increasing cost of living was one of the reasons the government will impose a maximum monthly cap of 2,000 kroner on a kindergarten place.
Støre, finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, children's minister Kjersti Toppe and education minister Tonje Brenna were all present at a kindergarten in Saprsobrg, southeast Norway, to announce the proposal on Tuesday.
Kindergarten places would be made even cheaper in less central areas of the country. Municipalities in Norway are ranked 1-6 on centrality. The closer to work and other essential services municipalities are, the more central they are considered.
In areas with a centrality rating of 5-6, the cost of a monthly kindergarten place will be reduced even further to 1,500 kroner.
Finance minister Vedum said the policy is being paid for by increased taxes on salmon farming introduced last year.
When the change comes into practice, the maximum price a family will pay for kindergarten a month will be 3,400 kroner – excluding other costs such as food.
This is because a discount is applied to the second child of the same family in a kindergarten. A family's third child and onwards receive a free space if they attend the same kindergarten as their siblings at the same time.
Earlier this year, kindergarten was made free for children in the action zone in Troms and Finnmark.
READ MORE: The incentives to attract people to northern Norway
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