Siv Jensen says more need to work, and more will have to work to a greater extent

Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen.Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix

A greater number of older workers, immigrants who get into work, and more women in full-time work are needed to secure the welfare state in the future, said Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen.

Together with Prime Minister Erna Solberg, she presented a white paper for 2017 on Friday morning.

The white paper examines the challenges for the welfare state and the Norwegian economy in the coming decades, and presents the government’s strategies to meet these.

‘The most important thing we can do to safeguard the welfare state for future generations, is to get more people into work, and that a greater number of people work more. In this area we have a great potential’, said Siv Jensen.

In the message, it puts forward calculations that show the importance of increasing the participation of different population groups.

One challenge is that as many of us get older, the calculation in terms of work does not go up. Among immigrants and persons with reduced working hours, work participation must be increased. Another challenge is that a third of all women work part time.

‘If we get more women to work full-time, it will have great significance for how much we, as countries, work together, and thus it functions for the good of welfare schemes such as ours’, said Jensen.

The calculations show that the number of hours worked would increase by about 8 % if all part-time female employees switch to full-time.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today