In this article I will talk about what support you can get if you have kids in Norway. From the moment of birth to the age of 18.
Don’t want to read? Watch video here:
Engangstønad
Let’s start with birth. In Norway if you didn’t worked enough to earn for parental leave money, you can apply for one time cash payment from Nav called “Engangstønad”.
For 2025 this grant is 92 648 NOK and is tax-free.
Main rule to get this payment is to be a member of national insurance scheme (Folketrygden) for 12 month before your due date. If you live in Norway you are usually a member. Before in time this was not a rule to be a member for one year, but now they changed it, so be aware that if you live in Norway less than a year, you are not qualified for this payment.
To get it you need to send application to Nav.
You need to be at least 22 weeks pregnant and get paper from your doctor or midwife confirming your due date with their signature. This paper you attach to your application. Usually it takes 3-4 weeks to get answer from Nav and you get money paid out straight away after they approve the application.
You have right for this payment also if you study in Norway or if you study abroad and eligible for stipend I’m from Lånekassen. As well you can get this money when you are travelling abroad or temporary living abroad but still a member in Folketrygden. So abroad stay should be not more than 12 month.
It worth to note, that you can choose this grant even if you have right to parental leave benefit. Here you need to see what suits you best.
Barnetrygd
After your child is born you will get child benefit called Barnetrygd. This one will be given automatically from NAV if you live in Norway for 12 month and give birth in Norway.
This payment is 1766 NOK a month and NAV sends it until your child is 18 years old, if you of course live in Norway.
If you give birth abroad, then you need to send application to NAV yourself. The same applies if you moved with kids to Norway, then you need to apply yourself. If you forget to apply in time, NAV will pay you for 3 month back in time. And if you applied before October 2024 then you can actually ask for payment for 3 years back in time, if you didn’t receive this benefit for some reason.
Next on will be your encounter with kindergarten in Norway. In this times we can get 2 things.
Reduced price for kindergarten
First will be reduced payment if you have somewhat medium to low income. For that benefit you need to apply through your komunne page. Just type in in google “redusert pris for barnehage” and name of your municipality.
In Oslo komunne for example you need to send application just ones when you apply first time, and later on every year they will check it automatically for you if you can get the deduction in price.
This benefit is income based. Check the salary limits on the page of your municipality. In Oslo it was around 366 000 NOK a year brutto for a family.
What you also can get in some areas of Norway is free hours. In Oslo its 20 hours a week for free for kids born from 2019 to 2022 if the family has income that is less than 642 700 NOK before tax. Also there is a discount on the 2nd child – 30%, and the 3d child goes for free if all of them are in the same kindergarten.
Application work for a year at the time, and they base their deduction on your last available tax declaration.
Kontantstøtte
One more benefit that you can get is called Kontantstøtte. Is a monthly cash payments if your child doesn’t go to kindergarten in the age from 13 to 19 month old.
In 2025 full benefit is 7 500 NOK and its reduces based on how many hours a week your child goes to kindergarten.
To this one government did some changes past years and requirements for getting this payment are unfortunately got stricter.
You need to live in Norway for 5 years, and if both parent live with the child, than both need to be a member of national insurance system for 5 years, which I think is stupid rule, given how hard it is to get a place in kindergarten for small kids, especially in busy cities.
If you are eligible than you need to send an application to NAV. You can also apply if your child attends kindergarten part time, with that payments will be reduced based on how many hours a week your child is attending kindergarten.
Be aware that if you live separately with other parent and you have shared custody like “Delt bosted” where child supposedly live in 2 places 50/50, then NAV can split the payment between both parent.
Reduced payment for SFO (AKS)
Next on will be reduced payment for AKS, which kids can have before school starts in the morning (|from 7.30 usually to the school start) and after school day is finished (14 to 16.30 usually).
School in Norway itself is for free, but of course not everyone can pick up their kids at 2 o’clock, so schools have this activity program after. And for that we need to pay. This payment can be reduced based on your income as well. If it’s low – you can pay less. Last year government made some changes and now part of the time is for free. But if you know that your income is low, then you can also ask for reduced payment. Usually you apply by sending email to your AKS leader in school.
In many places in Norway if you child attends sport activities in specialised multisport schools (idretsskole), you can reduce price for your membership and semester payments significantly if you have low income.
What you need to do is take the contact with the head of the training usually and explain situation. Norway lives by the principal that everyone should have right for sport activities no matter the income.
In some cases it will be for free if you have very low income, or you will be asked to help in different form than money, for example with cleaning, repairs or whatever related to club social works there are.
Free activities for kids when you have low income
Because of that point I named above about equality and availability of activities for kids for families with low income, there is always extra grants, stipends or payments you can ask in your municipality. Usually you can find this grants by googling “tilskudd for lavintektsfamilie (your municipality)” or apply HERE.
Stipend from Lånekassen
If you have kids and study, you can apply for child stipend from Lånekassen.
For 2025 is 2028 NOK for each child a month if you study a full time.
This amount is decreased proportionally to how much you study, it’s less for part time students . You can apply while study not only in university, but also in high school (vidregående skole).
Bostøtte from Husbanken
Another thing to look into is Bostøtte.
This is money compensation for housing, that you get paid each month, if your expenses is too high and income is low.
Compensation is based on your income. Here I will attached screen of the income limits. Limits are increasing every year.
Remember that with each kid you have this limit is increasing and if you have one income and more than 2 kids, most probably you can get some money from Husbanken.
Last year Husbanken was also paying out good compensation for electricity in winter months. And if you were approved for the housing compensation, then you got fixed amount for electricity as well. In 2024 it was all from 1500 to 2500 NOK plus 150 kr for each family member that is registered in your household.
Tax deductions related to kids
Beside everything I named above you have right for tax deductions related to your kids. It includes traveling expenses, activities, child care an so on. You can find this deductions HERE or watch this video:
Other benefits from NAV
Separately I want to say about help you can get from NAV if your child needs special care or has health related issues.
You can ask for compensation for glasses or braces for teeth. For example one of my kids has to wear glasses and each year when we go for a check I apply for compensation from NAV. Compensation for glasses is based on how bad situation is. We got around 2500 NOK last time I applied. And my son has +4 and astigmatism. HERE you can find all info from NAV and how to apply.
Also you can apply for compensation if you need to pay special care for your child, or need to stay home because your kid is sick. In Norwegian its called hjelpestonad. You can read about requirements and application process HERE.