Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) will introduce new requirements for language activity and training for all welfare beneficiaries.
In 2017 the government introduced an obligation to be active for all people under 30 years of age receiving social assistance. At that time, municipalities were obliged to set activity requirements for recipients social assistance.
Now Prime Minister Erna Solberg promises that in the next parliamentary term, the Conservatives will extend the obligation to act on all beneficiaries of social assistance. In addition, the Conservatives will set new language training requirements.
- We believe that being active is important because inaction is the source of all pain. When people are passive, they lose their confidence and lose their abilities, says Solberg.
- Are there many passive recipients of social assistance?
- Yes. A passive approach leads to a loss of self-confidence, faith in the possibility of applying for a job. Therefore, you have an obligation to be active, as it is a system in which you are put on the curriculum, in which you participate in classes and which qualifies you for a return to working life.
- So it's not that you think people receiving social welfare are lazy?
- Not. The point is, idleness is the root of all evil. And it's about giving money that is wrong without making demands, says Solberg.
- I think it's a concern. Requirements are caring. It's much worse when people don't care and you just give them money, says Solberg.
Report: No positive effect was found
Conservatives vote in favor of introducing an obligation to be active for all, despite that assessment , which was published in March this year, could not prove that the obligation to be active for young people under the age of 30 had an effect.
Researchers from the Frisch Center and the Social Research Institute examined, inter alia, whether the introduction of the obligation to be active had an impact on receiving social assistance and starting work or education.
They found no systematic effects on participation in education or work for this group - but also found no evidence to the contrary.
The report does not prevent Prime Minister Solberg from insisting that, after all, it is right to introduce an obligation to be active for everyone.
- I think it's a bit early to prove this effect, says Solberg.
The prime minister says the municipalities did not have much time to introduce the program.
-Class politics
SV vice-president and parliamentary candidate Kirsti Bergstø reacts to the conservative proposal. He says that the duty to be active helps to paint a picture of lazy residents of social welfare.
Photo: Jo Straube
- Activity is great for the individual if it is a meaningful activity. But this kind of blind activity duty isn't about promoting an activity that can lead to work and change, as research has shown, says Bergstø, and continues:
So it is a purely class policy which is to use the index finger and make demands on the poor, while the rich face generosity and gifts from the government without any demands.
- Can you be sure that the obligation to be active has no effect?
- These are not my words, research from the Frisch Center shows.
- Erna Solberg thinks it is a bit early for the active commitment effect?
- I did not notice that the research report from the Frisch Center stated that it was too early. It's typical for conservatives to ignore research that doesn't fit into their images of reality, says Bergstø.
