1.7 Funding youth policy
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How Youth Policy is funded
There is not a specific budget for youth policy. Initiatives and measures directed at youth are integrated within the overall national policy measures across different sectors. This is reflected in the annual budget proposals by each ministry. In Norway, the youth population is often described as those aged 13-26, but this may vary according to the issues being addressed, or by sector. As many services, initiatives and measures target children and young people as one group and because young people over the age of majority enjoy rights and access to welfare services as adults it is not possible to report on a separate budget/public expenditure for youth specifically.
What is funded
Ministries allocate grants to municipalities to carry out projects targeting the child and youth population.
The Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs allocated approximately NOK 400 million in 2021 to various projects through the national grant scheme for inclusion of children and young people. Support to youth organizations provides another indication of the overall commitment to youth. In 2021 the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs spent approximately NOK 155 million for youth organizations and NOK 231 million for organizations representing persons with disabilities. 13 of 15 ministries provide grants to voluntary organizations annually, many of them youth organizations or organizations with projects aimed at or run by youth.
Another grant scheme run by the Directorate of Health, which aims to strengthen mental health and substance abuse prevention among children and young people, had a budget of NOK 77 million in 2019.
In the 2020 national budget NOK 422.1 million was allocated to a grant scheme aimed at strengthening and developing municipal health stations and school health services.
Financial Accountability
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) provides the parliament with a comprehensive and independent audit of the government. The tasks of the OAG are to:
audit the central government accounts
carry out systematic performance audits of the finances, productivity, achievement of goals and effects based on parliamentary decisions
monitor the management of the state's proprietary interests in companies
contribute to the prevention and detection of irregularities and errors
advise the government administration to prevent future errors and omissions
The Parliament can instruct the OAG to initiate special audits.
Use of EU funds
There is no information on EU funds that have been used for youth policy at top-level. Norway does take part in several EU programmes relevant to the youth sector such as:
- Horizon 2020
- Erasmus+
- EU program for Employment and Social Innovation – EaSI
- Connecting Europe Facility – CEF 2014-2020