A homeless Norwegian man with his dog on Oslo streets. Bernie Sanders and AOC should explain why they want a Nordic Model. A country of five million cannot manage its citizens. How will the United States, with a population of over 330 million, handle socialism? Photo: Shutterstock by Sergemi. City streets July 5, 2016, in Oslo, Norway.
Poverty in Norway is at The Same Level as in The United States
By Tove R., April 30, 2023
Around a quarter of a million people, or 10.7 percent of the population in Norway, had an income of NOK 251,600 or lower in 2021, according to new figures from Statistics Norway (SSB).
“Half a million are poor, earn 250,000 kroner,” says Hans Rustad on Document.no, Norway’s largest conservative news outlet.
Norwegians are voicing their frustration in the comment section. EnSmuleFrustrert – A Little Frustrated – writes that politicians constantly boast that we are the world’s best and most prosperous country to live in – while they have managed to govern our people into despair and poverty.
The comment makes me think about how Norwegian media diligently produce negatively charged reports on social problems in the United States – including poverty.
For example, we would never find sensational headlines about poverty in Norway like Aftenposten’s “New report reveals enormous differences in the United States: If you grow up in the south, there is a great risk of having a tougher childhood.”
Jennifer Leigh Bailey, a professor of political science at Norway’s University NTNU, tells Aftenposten it’s no surprise that there are significant differences in these factors within the United States. It’s been that way for a long time.
“It’s a tragedy. Children must get a good start in life. But, unfortunately, a society where a large proportion of children are struggling will also create problems for humanity in the long term.”
Perhaps Aftenposten and Ms. Baily should worry about what goes on in their own country instead and let the U.S. deal with its poverty themselves.
Norway’s Red Cross says it is worried about increased poverty in Norway, especially among children:
“Many children do not get enough food. The proportion of children in poor families has increased steadily since 2011. For many, money for food and leisure activities is a major challenge.”
You have ONE job, Norwegian authorities
In the country where politicians boast they’re the world’s best and most prosperous, poverty is at the same level as in the United States.
In a country of about 350 million people vs. Norway’s 5 million. Fifty states vs. one country.
In other words, the Norwegian authorities have one country to govern. But they need help managing their one job.
Reason #!: They are busy saving the whole world.
In 2021, there were 37 million poor people in the United States, and the official poverty measure it 11.4%, only 0.5% higher than in Norway.
Using The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which is cash income plus public benefits such as food stamps and housing allowances, the level is 9.2%.
Significantly lower than Norway and many countries in Scandinavia and Europe.
Unlike Norway, the U.S. has seen a drastic decline in poverty in recent decades, especially among children. An improvement in unemployment, especially among single mothers, and state-level minimum wage laws have contributed to a 59% decrease in child poverty from 1993 to 2019.
Child poverty has increased by 26% in Norway since 2020, according to Finanssenteret. Over 115,000 children grow up in low-income families, surpassing adult poverty in number and growth.
Poverty in the U.S. is a Republican problem.
Aftenposten quotes senior researcher Hilmar Mjelde, who says conservative Republicans rule the southeastern United States. He claims one of the reasons for the poverty is that the unions are weaker, which leads to poorer welfare schemes.
Mjelde’s comment is not unexpected. We don’t have to be clairvoyant to know before reading the article that it would promote the fact that it is a Republican problem. That’s how predictable the left-wing media in Norway is.
To keep up the narrative of Democrats as good and Republicans as bad, the media and the experts must lie. Of the ten states Aftenposten has listed as the worst to grow up in, it is a mishmash of Republican and Democratic states.
The three that top the list are all Democratic-run states: Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico.
Mr. Mjelde says the areas with a high percentage of people of African-American and Hispanic backgrounds have the worst results. It doesn’t surprise him that many African Americans are poor:
“Historically, the black population has been an underclass. Today, this underclass consists of millions of poor, undocumented immigrants from Latin America.”
Would Mjelde admit that the Norwegian authorities and politicians, with their mismanagement, have created their underclass in the world’s wealthiest country?
No, he wouldn’t, and the media would avoid such truths about the world’s best country to live in.
There are, however, exceptions.
Last year, Verdens Gang wrote that there are more poor children in Norway, and more than half have immigrant backgrounds.
Aftenposten concludes with a quote from Save the Children:
“If each state [in the USA] had protected and provided for its children in the same way as the states at the top of the list, 3.5 million fewer children would go hungry, there would be 130,000 fewer teenage births a year, and 15,000 fewer children would die in the United States each year.”
How many fewer children and adults would have gone hungry in Norway if the authorities had protected and provided for their own? How many poor people could be lifted from poverty if authorities put Norway first?
Aftenposten and U.S. experts will never report on such inconvenient truths. Therefore, it’s better to highlight the misery in the United States.
