The Social Security Court ruled that single mother or father benefits should be considered covered by social security legislation.
- We will follow the ruling of the Social Insurance Court - says Minister of Labor and Social Integration Marte Mjøs Persen.
The Norwegian authorities have considered that the social security benefits for a single mother or father do not fall within the scope of the social security regulation. The Social Insurance Court followed the same practice.
In connection with a specific appeal case, the Social Insurance Court asked the EFTA Court for an advisory opinion. The EFTA Court has ruled that the transitional allowance for a single mother or father is covered by the Social Security Regulation as a family benefit. The Social Insurance Court came to the same conclusion.
What could qualifying this benefit as a family benefit mean? This could mean that e.g the person who started work in Norway or has moved to Norway and who has had an uninterrupted period of social insurance from an EEA country of at least five years may be entitled to a transition allowance from Norway.
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- It's good that we got a legal clarification from the Social Security Court, even if the result was not in line with Norway's assessment. Now we're looking at what this means for examining claims for single mother or father benefits, says Mjøs Persen.
The fact that none of the provisions of the Social Security Regulation have been applied in these cases may have different consequences. These various consequences can be both to your advantage and to your disadvantage. This means that some people may have received incorrect payment applications and may have been incorrectly reported.
Reconsideration of cases
"Nav will tell you how people who believe they have not received what they are entitled to can proceed to reconsideration," says the Minister for Employment and Integration.
The District Attorney announced that he would be examining the cases in the light of the decision of the Social Insurance Court.
The aim of benefits for a single mother or father is to provide income to people providing sole care for children up to eight years of age and ad hoc assistance enabling them to support themselves independently through their own work.
Source: regjeringen
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