Norway's Labour government adds new funding to boost youth employment programs

Labour and Inclusion Minister Kjersti Stenseng, together with Labour parliamentary leader Tonje Brenna, disclosed a series of budget enhancements for the government's employment package. The extra resources will be directed to a youth-focused employment programme, a health-care recruitment drive, and the "Easier Nav" experiment in Trondheim that provides activity allowances to young people. Additional allocations target the Youth Promise scheme, temporary labour-market measures, a four-year wage subsidy for young workers, and a job-matching initiative for immigrant women.

The ministers highlighted a recent drop of 4,000 young individuals from the pool of those outside work, while noting that 702,000 people of working age remain unemployed or inactive. They stressed the need for continued action, especially for young people facing mental-health or substance-use issues, and pointed to the youth guarantee that ensures a dedicated Nav contact for each participant.