MOVE HERE? In Kjøllefjord there is plenty of space for you and yours. Photo: Mattis Sandblad / VG
Are you pregnant? Lebesby municipality is now introducing a lucrative “baby bonus”. Only downside? You must live in Lebesby.
Thursday 14 March at 17:59
The short version
- Lebesby municipality in Eastern Finnmark is introducing a “baby bonus” of NOK 100,000 for new-born children to facilitate good growing conditions and financial security for parents.
- The bonus is paid out over three years, with NOK 50,000 at birth, NOK 30,000 on the child’s second birthday and NOK 20,000 when the child turns three.
- Mayor Sigurd Rafaelsen hopes the scheme will tempt young adults to move to or return to Lebesby, and contribute to an increased population and cultural life.
- Lebesby follows Bø municipality, which discontinued a similar scheme of NOK 50,000 per baby after two years when they noticed no effect on birth numbers.
Sea view
No, there is no disadvantage at all!
The municipality in Eastern Finnmark can tempt you with magnificent nature, location in a mighty sea gap and an insanely good fish dinner at the hotel in Kjøllefjord.
And if having a baby isn’t a good enough reward for having unprotected sex, the mayor of Lebesby can now tempt you with a “baby bonus” of NOK 100,000.
– We must be the best municipality for growing up, and then we must make arrangements for babies to get a good start in life. Baby bonus is part of that, and ensures financial security for the parents, says mayor Sigurd Rafaelsen to VG.
TEMPTING: Mayor Sigurd Rafaelsen (Ap) hopes he tempts couples in Lebesby to see that there is hope in the hay. Photo: Mattis Sandblad / VG
The municipality pays out the “bonus” over three years – so you can’t just empty the municipality’s coffers and run away:
- When the child is born, the parents receive NOK 50,000
- On the second anniversary, the gift from the municipality is a new NOK 30,000
- And when the child turns three, the last NOK 20,000 comes
– Having children has many costs, and we want to help with that, he says.
He hopes the scheme will tempt young adults to move to, or back to, Lebesby.
The municipality has not drawn up a budget for the scheme, but must finance the scheme from its dispensation budget.
– How have the birth rates been in recent years?
– Barn. So we now hope that couples who are in the thinking phase may be tempted to have children – and choose Lebesby. Here there is a rich cultural life, and where there is positivity and things happen.
Bø discontinued the scheme
Bø in Vesterålen introduced a similar scheme – with NOK 50,000 per baby born. They noticed no effect from that, says the mayor.
BORTE BØ: VG joined mayor Sture Pedersen (H) to congratulate the first couple in Bø who received NOK 50,000 for giving birth to a baby – little Håvard. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG
– We had the scheme for two years, but did not notice any increase in births. Therefore, we discontinued the scheme at New Year’s. But we will follow what experiences they have in Lebesby, because we are looking for everything that works for immigration, says Bø mayor Sture Pedersen (H).
Pedersen, on the other hand, says that they have had good experiences with the introduction of free kindergarten, and free training and free rental of all types of sports halls for children and young people in Bø.
– We see an effect from that, and that more people move there and appreciate it, he says.
Remy Wikerøy Angell and Marianne Sofie Valle are among those who will benefit from the baby bonus. In May, they get a new family member – and the first payment of NOK 50,000.
EXPECTING CHILDREN: Remy Wikerøy Angell and Marianne Sofie Valle.
– Move to Lebesby municipality! urges Valle.
– It is a good measure to increase the population.
They both grew up in the municipality, she in the village of Lebesby and he in Kjøllefjord. They now live in Alta, where Valle is studying, but soon they will return home to their family – and NOK 100,000.
– That’s not why we’re moving there, but it’s a big advantage, says Angell.
He is very happy to have grown up in Kjøllefjord:
– I lived there until I had to move to go to school. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, it was a nice and safe place to grow up.