Never has the proportion of women on disability welfare been greater

NAV office, where unemployed and job seekers goes for support.NAV. Photo: Norway Today Media

The proportion of women on disability welfare constitutes 12.2 % of the population between the ages of 18 and 67. The proportion has never been higher, according to Nav.

The proportion of men receiving disability welfare is 8.3 %, according to Nav. The difference between women and men has increased over time, and the proportion of women on disability benefit is now historically high.

In all age groups there have been more disabled women than men, besides those under 30 years. This has now changed, and for the first time, the proportion of disabled women aged 25-29 is the same as for men.

The fact that there are more women than men on disability welfare, we recognise from the other health-related benefits, sickness benefits and work assessment allowance, where there is also a significant gender difference, says Labour and Welfare Director Sigrun Vågeng.

Increase
At the end of June, a total of 346,800 persons received disability benefits. This is an increase of 3,400 persons since the previous quarter, corresponding to 1 %.

The share of people with disabilities was 10.2 % of the population aged 18-67. This represents an increase of 0.1 percentage points since the previous quarter and 0.4 percentage points in one year.

The increase must be seen in the context of the decline in the number of people receiving work assessment allowance (AAP).

Three out of four new disabled people received previous work assessment allowance, says Vågeng.

Decline among the elderly
We must go back to 2006 to find an equally high proportion of people with disabilities in the population as they are today.

However, the number of people on disability welfare was higher during the period March 2003 to September 2005, by 10.4 %. The changes must be seen in the context of changes in the social security schemes during this period.

The proportion of people with disability benefits among the elderly has decreased. Compared to one year ago, the share of disability benefits between 20 and 59 years has increased, while for those over the age of 65 the proportion has decreased. For the 18-19 year olds and those between the ages of 60 and 64, the disability percentage is stable.

Most in Østfold – fewest in Oslo
The highest percentage of people on disability welfare was in the counties Østfold (14.8), Aust-Agder (14.6) and Hedmark (13.7). The lowest percentage of people claiming disability benefits were in Oslo (5.8) and Akershus (7.4).

The differences are somewhat reduced when corrected for different age composition in the counties.

Compared to last year, there has been an increase in the share of disability benefits in all the counties in the country. In Aust-Agder, the age-standardised disability welfare increased by 0.7 percentage points.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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