Baby Money

In class one day we learned all the special words one would want to know if they are pregnant (gravid) in Norway. The reason they are so important is because they mean money. It’s hard to believe, but they actually pay women to have babies in Norway, and they keep paying for those babies until they are 16 years old – no matter how much money a person makes. The government pays the parents several hundred dollars every month until the baby is three years old, when the amount drops to about $200 a month until they are 16 years old. All “baby/child” money is tax free and is given for every child living in Norway, since the government acknowledges that it takes money to raise a child.




Norway is, I believe, the most progressive country in the world when it comes to maternity leave. All working women get one year’s maternity leave and 80% of their pay for that first year – and their jobs remain secure. If they chose to not go back to work after that first year, they can take another year off and keep their job, but they get no pay during the second year. The father of the baby also gets a 100% paid maternity leave for eight weeks sometime during the baby’s first year of life. (It’s been proposed to increase the father’s time off to five months, but I’m not sure if that has gone into effect yet.)



If a woman was not working prior to giving birth, the government makes a nice one-time deposit into her bank account to help with the expenses of raising the baby – to the tune of 90,000 kroner (more than $15,000 – tax free.) And because of their socialized medical system, all medical expenses associated with having that baby are paid for by the government.



We went around the room that day and everyone in class told about the birthing and maternity leave policies in their home country. Everyone (except me) was from a country where the medical expenses are free or miniscule and several countries had many months of paid maternity leave.



I was embarrassed to talk about the policies in America and how we have none of the above and that I had the privilege of paying over eight thousand dollars to the hospital just to give birth. The gasps were audible. But I choose to believe you get what you pay for, and I now have a boy worth every cent (and then some).