More younger, and fewer elderly disabled people

NAV Social security fraud, NAV Rule labour marketNAV.Photo: Norway Today Media

The number of disabled people increased to 325,900 in 2017, shows the annual report from Nav. In total, 9.6% of the working- age population are on disability benefit.

 

Nav estimates that the number will continue to rise in the years to come.

“After a period of stable numbers of disabled, we now see that the percentage is increasing. Due to demographic changes, and the tightening of the rules for unemployment benefit, we expect the increase to continue in the future”, said Sigrun Vågeng, Minister for Employment and Welfare, in a press release on Thursday.

By 2016, 9.5% of the working population were registered as being on disability insurance. While the number increased in the younger age groups, it decreased for those over 60 years old. In 2017, there were significantly less in the latter category on disability insurance.

At the same time, changes to the regulations made it easier to work while suffering from an illness. As a result, 19% were registered in an employment relationship while they were registered as invalid.

“Although the payout may be reduced if you have income, you do not lose the entitlement to disability benefits,” said Vågeng.

Østfold and Aust-Agder are the counties with the highest number of disabled people, with 14%, and 13.7% of the working-age population respectively. The lowest was Oslo, with 5.3% receiving invalidity insurance.

 

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