Youth Policy in Norway

No single strategy covers all aspects of Norwegian youth policy. Instead, several policy documents target different aspects of young people’s lives within different sectors, as described in the underlying YouthWiki chapters.

The Government’s youth policy is described in relevant draft resolutions and bills [Proposisjoner til Stortinget] that form the basis for the Parliament’s consideration of proposed resolutions, new legislation or amendments to legislation, the budget, or other matters that require a decision by the Parliament. The budget spells out the Government’s priorities in all sectors, including youth policy.

The two lower levels of government, counties and municipalities, are the main implementers of state policy. This is true to the implementation of youth policy as well. The exception is where the central government has its own implementing bodies at regional level for core services and institutions (e.g. hospitals, universities, police, prisons, and courts).

Both counties and municipalities have over time increased their autonomy towards the way government funding is being used to reach desired goals, by utilizing so-called free funding [‘frie midler’] – sometimes called non-earmarked funding. 

The Norwegian welfare model is characterized by redistribution of wealth through its taxation system, and through a broad universalistic social welfare system. Norway also offers more or less free education, from kindergartens and preschool, up to higher education. The voluntary sector plays an integral role in almost all policy areas.