Benefits

Transitional benefit for single parents

Ensures you income for up to 3 years when you have at least 60 per cent of the daily care for children under 8 years of age.

There is also information on transitional benefit for single parents for physicians and dentists or other healthcare professional.

Who can get?
What can you get?
Apply, forward or complain
While you receive transitional benefit

Who can get transitional benefit?

Generally, you may be entitled to transitional benefit if

You are considered a single parent if all of the following apply to you:

you have at least 60 per cent of the daily care of children alone. When you and the other parent have a written agreement on shared permanent residence, the entitlement to benefits to a single mother or father depends on whether you have at least 60 per cent of the day-to-day care of the child alone, regardless of where the child lives at any given time.
you are a biological parent, adoptive parent or have legally taken over custody of children
you are unmarried, separated, divorced or have applied to the County Governor or court for a separation or divorce
you live alone with child(ren) or share a home with another adult with whom you are not in a relationship
you do not live very close to the other parent, i.e. the same building, the same block of flats, next door, or a building around the same courtyard, etc. We can make exceptions if you have not had the opportunity to choose freely where to live.

What is shared permanent residence?

Shared permanent residence means that the child has a permanent place of residence with both parents. This is not the same as the child having a permanent residence with one parent and possibly spending the night with the other in connection with visitation. An agreement on shared permanent residence is a legal agreement pursuant to section 36 of the Children Act. Such an agreement entails that both parents jointly make major decisions on behalf of the child, such as where the child will attend kindergarten and where in the country the child will live.

You are not considered a single parent if:

you are living (cohabiting) with your partner, regardless of whether this person is the child’s other parent or not
you or the other parent is receiving or has previously received benefit for single parents and have another child with the same partner
you are fostering the child you are a single parent of
you spend so much time with the child’s other parent that you cannot be considered a single parent

In general, you and your children must live in Norway for you to receive single parent benefits. In some cases, you may still be entitled to single parent benefits if you move or stay abroad.

For single parents who are EEA citizens or family members of an EEA citizen:

Benefit recipients can still receive the benefit when staying in other EEA countries, provided that other conditions are met.
You may be entitled to benefits if you are an employee in Norway, but you and your child live in another EEA country (e.g., you live in Sweden and work in Norway).
You have an independent right to the benefit if you live with the child in another EEA country, while the other parent works or receives social security benefits or a pension from Norway.

Generally, you must have been a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme for the last 5 years to qualify for the benefit. We can make exceptions if you or the other parent have a strong connection to Norway.

Separate rules for membership for EEA citizens

Social security periods from other EEA countries may count as equivalent to periods of membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. In other words, Nav may include social security periods from other EEA countries when we consider if you meet the requirement of 5 years membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. Social security periods in other EEA countries must be documented.

Only EEA citizens or family members of EEA citizens, can add social security periods from other EEA countries to periods of membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. If the social security periods are from another Nordic country, citizenship does not matter.

If you have children between the ages of 1 and 8 years

Then you must also either work or study at least 50 per cent, be registered as a job seeker with Nav, or be in the process of establishing your own business. In some cases, you may qualify for transitional benefit even if you cannot work, study, or seek jobs.

If you have, without a reasonable cause, stopped working in the last 6 months before you apply for the benefit, you are not entitled to transitional benefit. You can receive benefits after these 6 months.

Find out what you may be entitled to when you are alone with children

Navigator

The age of your children

To qualify for transitional benefit, your youngest child must be under the age of 8 years. In some cases, you can receive benefit after your youngest child has turned 8.

If your child is under the age of 1 year old, you can receive transitional benefit without having to work, study or seek work. It is nevertheless sensible to start planning childminding and work, education or training as early as possible.

If you apply before your child is 3 months old, you may be granted transitional benefit for the calendar month in which the baby was born and for the preceding month. This is in addition to the three years during which you can receive transitional benefit after your child is born.

Work, education and other activities

If you have children aged between 1 and 8 years old, you must be in at least 50 per cent occupational activity to qualify for transitional benefit. The purpose of this benefit is to enable you to support yourself and your child(ren).

You can meet the duty to be in work-related activity in one of the following ways:

be in at least 50 per cent work
be registered with Nav as a job seeker
be in at least 50 per cent education that Nav has assessed as necessary for you to be able to get a job and support yourself
set up your own business

If you combine work with education, you must either work or study at least 50 per cent.

You can nevertheless receive benefit if you are unable to work, study or seek work due to your own illness, or if you have a sick child, do not have child minding, or have a child who needs extra supervision.

To qualify for transitional benefit while taking education, this education must be necessary in order for you to be able to get a job and support yourself.

We assess the education you want to take when you apply for benefit or if you are already receiving benefit and are going to start education. In this context, we will assess:

your goal for taking this particular education
whether education is necessary for you to achieve this goal
whether the education is appropriate. In this context, we will assess, among other things, both the needs on the labour market and the opportunities available to you

If you already have an education that means you are qualified for an occupation or that can be used in multiple occupations, you will not generally be granted support to take more education.

However, we may make exceptions if you have an education or occupational experience that is no longer relevant in today’s labour market. Education from a university college or university does not become outdated.

We may also make exceptions to this rule if your education or occupation is not compatible with looking after children..

The main rule is that only public education is approved. Only in very special cases can we approve private education. We can also inform you about and advise you on choice of occupation and education. We can also help you create an activity plan, and in some cases offer other measures, such as internships or courses.

You must be in at least 50 per cent education in order to qualify for transitional benefit.

When you take an education that Nav has approved, you can also receive support for tuition fees. The benefit covers the expenses you have for tuition fees, semester fees and exam fees up to a limit.

Support for school fees for single parents

Benefits

Expenses for learning materials, travel, relocation and extra living expenses in connection with the education can be applied for reimbursement by supplementary benefits. Additional benefits can also help cover expenses you have for childcare

Supplemental benefit for single parents

As a job seeker you must:

be able to work, and willing to take any work that is paid according to a collective wage agreement or customary rates for the occupation. 50 per cent activity is sufficient
be willing to participate in labour market schemes
be able to start working within one week. You must therefore be able to arrange child minding at short notice. If you do not accept job offers, labour market schemes or do not attend meetings, you may lose your right to the benefit for one month

We do not require that you have to move or commute to take work or participate in a labour market scheme you have been offered. You can choose to look for work only in the area close to where you live, such that the time it takes you to travel using a means of transport between your home and your place of work is not more than one hour each way. This does not include the time it takes you to walk between your home and the means of transport, and between the means of transport and your place of work. Nor are you under any obligation to apply for full-time, evening, night, weekend or shift work.

We can inform you about and advise you on choice of occupation and education, and in some cases offer other measures, such as internships or courses.

If you are a job seeker and are applying for or receiving transitional benefit, you must:

1. Register with Nav as a job seeker

Registrer deg som arbeidssøker

2. Register your CV and make sure it remains up to date

Fyll ut CV-en din på arbeidsplassen.no

Søknaden og CV-en

3. Search for vacant positions (jobs)

Kom i gang som jobbsøker

4. Submit an employment status card every 14 days

Fill in employment status form – transitional benefit

If you are already receiving transitional benefit and become a job seeker, you must also fill out the form for single parents who are looking for work (in Norwegian).

Send inn opplysninger når du er enslig mor eller far som er arbeidssøker

How to

The employment status card (“meldekort” in Norwegian) provides information about whether you wish to continue to be registered as a job seeker, whether you have worked, and if so, how many hours you have worked in the past 14 days. If your income changes, you must notify us, in addition to submitting an employment status card.

If you do not submit an employment status card or submit it too late, you risk being removed from our register of job seekers. You may then lose your right to benefit, and you will no longer be listed as a candidate when an employer reports assignments or vacant positions to Nav.

If you are removed from our register, you must reregister as a job seeker with Nav and fill out the form for single parents who are looking for work again. It is not enough that you submit a new employment status card.

If you are a single mother or father and registered as a jobseeker with Nav, you may also be entitled to additional benefits.

Supplemental benefit for single parents

Benefits

Requirements to the business:

Setting up the business will enable you to support yourself
The business must be new
You must either own over half of the business alone, or together with one or more other recipients of unemployment benefit
You must set up and run the business in Norway
You must register your business in the necessary public registers during the start-up period

If you receive unemployment benefit while you are setting up your own business, this means this is approved by us and you are entitled to benefit.

If you do not receive unemployment benefit while you are setting up your own business, you must obtain a commercial assessment from the municipal or county authorities or another professional body. We need this assessment to decide whether the business can be approved as occupational activity.

If you cannot work, study or seek work because your child needs extra supervision due to physical, mental or major social problems, you can receive transitional benefit until the child turns 18.

The doctor must provide documentation of the child’s physical or mental condition. The documentation must describe the extent to which your child’s supervision and care needs prevent you from working or affect your work opportunities.

You are not entitled to this benefit if others can take care of your child.

If you do not have child minding, we can grant exemption from the duty to be in work-related activity. You must provide documentation that you have applied for a place in a kindergarten or child care at school outside school hours (SFO), and that your application has been denied or you have been put on a waiting list.

You must apply for a place in a kindergarten before the child turns 1 year old if you are a single parent before this time. When you apply, you must state that you want your child to start at kindergarten at the latest when they turn 1 year old. Make sure you apply within the municipality’s deadline for applications.

What can you get?

How much can you get?
How long can you receive transitional benefit for?
Other options

How much can you get?

Your income will determine how much you receive.

The full transitional benefit is NOK 279,063 and the amount is adjusted on 1 May every year. New rates will take effect from 1 May 2023, and will be paid from June 2023.

If you do not have any income, you may qualify for full transitional benefits. This is NOK 23,255.25 per month before tax.

If your monthly income times 12 exceeds NOK 682,000 before tax, you do not qualify for transitional benefit.

If your monthly income is NOK 5,168 or more before tax, your transitional benefit will be reduced by 45 øre for each krone you earn above this amount.

We include all your earnings in our calculation. Any benefits you receive from Nav will also be included in the calculation:

unemployment benefit
sickness benefit
attendance allowance, care benefit, training allowance
work assessment allowance (AAP)
parental benefit
carer support / foster care allowance

We calculate your transitional benefit based on your current income or the income
you can expect to have in the near future. As a rule, we use income information your employers have reported to public registers. You can find this information at skatteetaten.no. If we calculate transitional benefit back in time, we will calculate it according to the actual income you had each month.

To calculate your future expected income or your income for periods that we do not have any actual income information for, we calculate an expected income, using information we have about your previous income, your employment, and benefits you receive from Nav, among other things. We then convert your monthly income into annual income.

If you receive disability benefit or survivor's pension, we will deduct this monthly amount from what you receive in transitional benefit. We do this before taxes. We keep the child allowance out.

Calculate monthly transitional benefit

How long can you receive transitional benefit for?

You can receive transitional benefit for up to three years, i.e. 36 months. This does not need to be a continuous period, but can be divided up into multiple periods until the child is 8 years old.

Periods during which you receive benefit will be deducted from your benefit period even if you do not receive full transitional benefit, for example because you have earned income.

Periods during which you receive childcare benefit, support for school fees or supplemental benefit will also be deducted from the three-year benefit period, even if you are not granted transitional benefit. This applies if

you are entitled to transitional benefit during this period, but have not applied for it
you are entitled to transitional benefit during this period, but have chosen not to receive it
you have been granted transitional benefit, but your income is too high for the benefit to be paid

Extended period

In some cases, you may be granted transitional benefit beyond the main benefit period of three years

Your benefit period can be extended if

you are in education that is necessary and appropriate, you can have your benefit extended for up to two years. If you have the sole care of three or more children or you became a sole caregiver of children before you turned 18, you can receive extended benefit for up to three years. This applies until your child turns 8.
you cannot work because your child needs extra supervision due to physical, mental or major social problems. This applies until your child turns 18.
you have a new child with a new parent. You can receive a new benefit period until the child is 14 months old.

If you are already receiving transitional benefit, it can be extended

until the end of the school year or apprenticeship you have started, up to a maximum of nine months
for up to two years if you or your child has a disorder that is not chronic and that prevents you from working – maximum until your child turns 10. In this context, “disorder that is not chronic” means a health disorder that has not lasted more than two years or is not expected to last more than two years
for up to six months if you have accepted an offer of work, education or child minding and are waiting to start
for up to six months if you are registered as a job seeker. If you have been a job seeker during the last six months of the main period, the number of months may be reduced

Other options

More information for you who

Er helt eller delvis alene med barn
Dette kan du ha rett til

Apply, forward or complain

Apply and forward attachments
After you have applied
Right to complain

Apply and forward attachments

You can apply online or on paper. It is important that you fill in all the relevant fields and submit all the necessary documentation, so that your case can be processed promptly. You will be notified as you fill in the application if you need to provide documentation of any of the information you have provided.

The questions in the application, together with any documentation, provide us with the answers we need to process your application. If we need more information, we will contact you.

Application for transitional benefit for single parents

You use the same application both if you are applying for the first time and if you are applying for an extension or increase of your benefit period.

Apply for transitional benefits Forward documentation

If you are pregnant

Confirmation of expected date of delivery

If you have a visitation agreement for the child(ren)

Visitation agreement

If you are alone with children due to a break-up with the other parent or you have previously lived together

Confirmation of the break-up. The confirmation must be signed by both of you and show the date of the breakup. This is how a confirmation of the break-up (PDF 35 kB) can look like (in Norwegian). This is not the mediation certificate from the family protection office.

If you have applied for separation or divorce, but are not separated or divorced yet

Confirmation from the County Governor on an application for separation or divorce

If one of you has filed for divorce in court

Confirmation that a case has been brought before the court

If you are married without this being registered in the National Register

Documentation of marriage

If you are separated or divorced without this being registered in the National Register

Documentation of separation or divorce

If you have a written agreement on shared permanent residence

Agreement on shared permanent residence

If your former partner is still registered at your address and does not cooperate with the change of address

Documentation showing that you live alone with children and the time when you moved apart:
Documentation confirming that you have been in contact with the National Register of Citizens because your former partner has moved out
Information about where your former partner now lives

If you can document both points above, this is usually sufficient. If you do not have such documentation, you can attach, for example:

tenancy agreement for both parties
documentation that confirms that the former shared home has been transferred to one of the parties. This can be probate and/or documentation of who is the borrower for the home you live in.
confirmation from child protection that you live alone with children
documentation showing separate housing and household expenses. These can be bank statements showing paid rent, or other fixed housing expenses such as electricity and municipal taxes.

If a nursery, school, health centre or similar knows your family situation well, a statement from them can be part of the overall assessment we make of your living situation. This may include information about who collects and delivers and may be added to other documentation.

If the other parent does not cooperate with a change of address for children living with you

Documentation that the child lives with you, for example:

the reason for the lack of change of address for the child
copy of notice of relocation/tip to the National Register of Citizens
confirmation from, for example, a nursery/school, child protection or health centre

If you are ill and it affects your ability to work, study or look for work

If you do not have a sick leave or do not receive work assessment allowance (AAP) or disability benefit, you must attach documentation that confirms that you are ill. The documentation from your doctor must show:

the reason why you cannot work, study or look for work
when you fell ill
when your doctor expects you to recover
how much you can work

Are you already receiving transition benefit and are you applying to extend the benefit period beyond 3 years because you have an illness that is not permanent? Then we need the documentation from your doctor even if you have sick leave.

The illness not being permanent in this context means that it has not lasted for more than 2 years or will last for more than 2 years.

We have created a to-do list that you can take with you to your doctor (PDF 59 kB) to make sure that the doctor documents the necessary information.

If your child is ill and it affects your ability to work, study or look for work

Documentation that confirms that the child is ill and describes your ability to work, study or look for work. The documentation from the doctor must show:

the reason why the child’s illness affects your ability to work, study or look for work
when the child fell ill
when the doctor expects the child to recover
how much you can work

We have created a to-do list that you can take with you to the doctor (PDF 57 kB) to make sure that the doctor documents the necessary information.

If you have children who need special supervision

Documentation of the child’s need for supervision. We need:

documentation from your doctor confirming that the child has medical, psychological or major social problems and needs supervision.
documentation that describes how much and how your child needs supervision, and how this affects your ability to work, study or look for work.

If you lack childcare: documentation that you lack childcare

This means refusal of a kindergarten place/SFO place or confirmation that the child is on a waiting list. The documentation must show:

the date you applied
the date you applied for a place from

If you have been offered a job

Employment contract showing that you have received an offer of employment.

The documentation must show:

name of employer
percentage of full-time equivalent
the date you start the job
the date you received the offer

If you are taking or are going to take an education

Documentation of the education you are taking. The documentation must show:

name of place of study
name of study
how much you will study
the period you will study

The documentation must clearly show who it applies to.

Are you already receiving transitional benefit and applying to extend the benefit period because you have been offered a study place? Then the documentation must also show the date you accepted the offer.

If you establish your own business and do not receive unemployment benefits during establishment

Professional assessment from the municipality or county council. You can also use another professional competence.

If you are a job seeker and for health reasons cannot take up any work

Medical certificate describing the reason why you cannot take up any work

If you are an apprentice

Apprenticeship contract

If you work less than 50 percent because you quit your job or took voluntary leave without a reasonable reason during the last 6 months

Documentation of the employment relationship and the reason why you left. The documentation must show:

the working relationship
the reason you quit
the date you resigned or agreed to take voluntary leave

If you work less than 50 percent because you have reduced your working hours without reasonable reason during the last 6 months

Documentation of the employment conditions and the reason why you reduced your working hours. The documentation must show:

the employment conditions
the reason why you reduced your working hours
the date you agreed to a reduction in working hours

Information from a single parent who is a job seeker

If you receive transitional benefits and become a job seeker, you must send us some extra information.

The same applies if you are a job seeker and apply for transitional benefits with a paper application.

Submit information Forward documentation

You may contact Nav if you want more information and guidance, and/or help filling in the form.

After you have applied

You will receive a written decision when the application has been processed.

Processing time for applications

The processing time is the time from when we receive your application until we have made a decision. Remember that we need all the necessary documentation to process your application.

Case concerns	Expected case processing time
Application	5 weeks

Right to complain

Have you received a decision from us that you think is wrong? You can complain to the Nav Unit that issued the decision. They will reassess your case. If they do not agree with your complaint, they will forward it to the Nav Appeals Management Unit.

Complain about a decision

The decision will have information about how to proceed if you want to complain, where to send your complaint and the term of complaint. If you have questions about the decision, you can contact us.

Submit a complaint Forward documentation

Appeal a decision

If you disagree with the decision of your complaint from the the Nav Appeals Management Unit, you can, with some exceptions, appeal the decision. The deadline for appealing is stated in the decision.

Submit an appeal Forward documentation

You can also use a lawyer or give a power of attorney to a person who complains on your behalf.

More about

Right to complain

How to

Processing time for complaints and appeals

Case concerns	Expected case processing time
Complaint to the Nav unit	10 weeks
Complaint to the Nav Appeals Management Unit	12 weeks
Appeals to the Nav Appeals Management Unit	12 weeks

While you receive transitional benefit

Temporary loss of entitlement to benefit
When will the money be paid?
You must notify us of any changes
Travelling or moving abroad

Temporary loss of entitlement to benefit

Your benefits for single parents may be suspended for one month if you, without reasonable grounds:

resign from your job
turn down a job offer
fail to return to work after your period of parental leave
refuse to participate in labour market schemes
fail to attend meetings with Nav

If you have provided incorrect information or failed to provide information, your benefit may be suspended for up to three months the first time you do this and for up to six months if this happens more than once in a three-year period.

When will the money be paid?

Transitional benefit is paid from the month after you qualify for benefit.

You can receive benefit for up to three months before you apply if you were entitled to benefit in this period.

If you apply before your child is 3 months old, you can receive back payment of benefit for up to five months. That is, you can also receive transitional benefit for the calendar month in which the child was born and for the month before you gave birth.

Benefit will be paid by the 20th of every month. The day on which the benefit is paid may vary from month to month.

Please be aware that these dates are when Nav guarantees you will have the money in your account.

Payment dates in 2025
17. January
20. February
20. March
16. April
16. May
20. June
18. July
20. August
19. September
20. October
20. November
12. December

In your payment overview, you can see upcoming payments several days before the actual payment date.

The time of day when the payment will be credited to your account will vary, as it is your bank that transfers the payment into your account. Payments can therefore arrive in your account in the afternoon or evening.

If you are entitled to retroactive transitional benefit, you will receive this back payment shortly after your application has been processed.

Holiday pay

There is no holiday pay on this benefit.

Tax

You have to pay tax on this benefit.

No tax is deducted in June. In December tax is deducted at half your normal rate.

If you pay Svalbard tax or withholding tax, there is an ordinary tax deduction in June and December.

More about tax deductions on payments from Nav (in Norwegian).

Your tax card is transferred automatically from the Norwegian Tax Administration to Nav. If you want to change your tax card, go to skatteetaten.no.

You must notify us of any changes

You must notify us of changes if:

you start working
your work situation changes
your earned income changes by 10 per cent or more
you are granted other benefits from Nav
your disability benefit or survivor’s pension changes
you are no longer a job seeker
you change, drop out of or reduce the scope of your education
you or your child falls ill, and this prevents you from being in work, in education or a job seeker
your application for separation or divorce is refused
you start living with your partner, enter a civil partnership, or get married
you start a relationship with someone you have previously lived with and have children with
you are expecting another child
the child access arrangements change
the day-to-day care of the child is temporarily or permanently left to others
you will be spending time abroad
you move
you or the other parent move very close to one another, i.e. the same building, the same block of flats, next door, or a building around the same courtyard, etc.

Report changes

Change in earned income

If your monthly income changes by more than 10 per cent, compared with your income when the decision was made, you must request recalculation to avoid overpayment or underpayment of transitional benefit.

Holidays and periods spent abroad

You must notify us if:

you are going to spend more than six weeks abroad
you are going to travel abroad and have already spent six weeks outside Norway during the past 12 months
you are going to travel abroad, and this stay will result in you having spent more than six weeks abroad during the past 12 months

Relocation

If you are moving or have moved, we must assess whether you are still entitled to this benefit.

You must send us information about:

whether you still live alone, or are sharing your home with another adult. If you live in a marriage-like relationship, we will need your partner’s name and date of birth
whether your children are registered in the National Registry as living at your address after you have moved
any changes to your child access agreement
whether you will continue to work, study or look for work after you have moved. If any of these have changed, you must provide documentation of your new activity
whether you meet the conditions for exemption from the duty to be in work-related activity. Illness or other exemption criteria must be documented

If you have moved or are going to move and need a place in a kindergarten, you must apply for a place in a kindergarten in the new municipality in plenty of time. If you have not applied for a place in a kindergarten in your new municipality in time, you will not be granted exemption from the duty to be in work-related activity.

If you are receiving childcare benefit and want to continue to receive this benefit after you have moved, you must provide documentation of the expenses in your new municipality. The expenses must be documented by an invoice.

If you move because you have got a job after having been registered as a job seeker, you may be entitled to financial support for the move. Read more about supplemental benefit.

Supplemental benefit for single parents

Benefits

Travelling or moving abroad

In general, you and your children must live in Norway for you to receive single parent benefits. In some cases, you may still be entitled to single parent benefits if you move or stay abroad.

If you meet the other conditions for the benefit, you may have the right to keep the benefit when staying in other EEA countries if:

You are already receiving a single parent benefit.
You are an employee in Norway, but you and your child live in another EEA country (e.g., you live in Sweden and work in Norway).
You and your child live in another EEA country, while the other parent works or receives social security benefits or a pension from Norway.