Lowest number of social assistance recipients since 1988

Altogether 146,600 persons received social assistance in Norway last year. This is around 7,200 fewer than the year before, and is the lowest number of social assistance recipients since 1988. One reason for the decline is that there are fewer repeat clients. Each recipient received an average of NOK 27,300 in social assistance benefits in 1997.

Social assistance payments totalled NOK 4 billion, a decline of about NOK 180 million at constant prices compared with 1996. Disbursements paid up to 1997 have not declined at the same pace as the number of clients because both the period of time on assistance and the amount of the monthly benefit have increased somewhat. Long-term use of social assistance fell from 1996 to 1997, but the average amount of benefit has continued to increase.

The average annual social assistance benefit per recipient in 1997 was NOK 27,300, or nearly NOK 5,300 per month. The monthly level of social assistance has increased by nearly three per cent from 1996 to 1997. Since the period on assistance was reduced, the annual amount of benefit remained stable.

The number of social assistance recipients declined by around 20,000 persons from 1994 to 1997. This is the number that received social assistance over the course of the year. If we look at the number of social assistance recipients at year end, the number fell from 69,000 in 1994 to just under 59,000 in 1997. If we include spouses and children under 18 who were supported by social assistance, around 96,400 persons, or 2.2 per cent of the population, received social assistance at the end of 1997.

Fewer recipients under 40
The decline in the number of social assistance recipients is the largest among the youngest age groups. In 1994 around 35,000 persons between the ages of 20 and 24 received social assistance. By 1997 the number had dropped to around 26,000. Almost the entire reduction in the number of social assistance recipients in recent years has occurred in the age groups under 40. The number of children under 18 supported by social assistance recipients has declined from around 77,500 in 1994 to 75,100 in 1996 and to just under 72,000 in 1997.

New Statistics
Social assistance, 1997. Final figures.
The statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway Social Statistics. For more information contact: Ane.Osmunddalen@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 47 88, or Vera.Lower@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 49 26.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 50, 1998