The short version
- Lan Marie Berg (MDG) suggests giving parents of young children “free pick-up”.
- Parents in the same household must share their time, without fixed guidelines for mother and father
- Cost: Approx. 750 million, according to Berg
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Shortly after 3pm, Lan Marie Berg (37) rushes from the Storting. She takes the subway a little to the east, and walks with quick steps upstairs to the kindergarten.
Over her shoulder she has the document folder with the PC, which she expects to have to take up during the evening.
– We know that the phase of life when you have children is the most stressful phase. That’s why so many people experience the time crunch as a big problem in everyday life, says Berg.
Next weekend the MDG national meeting. In all likelihood, her party will be in favor of giving parents of young children with kindergarten-aged children “free pick-up”.
In practice, this means the right to go down to a 90 per cent position with full wage compensation – 45 minutes every day per family.
– Just as many have training during working hours at many workplaces, says Berg.
The idea is that parents in the same household must share the time they get. Berg does not want to lay down guidelines for the hours to be shared between father and mother.
Just before Berg meets VG, the Men’s Committee has presented its report. It points to the importance of men being treated equally as carers, and one of the measures they will introduce is, among other things, to give men equal rights to parental leave.
– Isn’t there a danger that it is women who will take on the task of collection, if you get through this?
– It will be different. But the reason why we have not gone into this in more detail is that you can have different work situations.
Several have one child
When Berg walks through the gate into the nursery, daughter Ragna Mai (soon to be 5) comes running and throws herself around mum’s neck.
– Mom, look!
Together they go inside to get the bag.
Berg refers to the much-discussed low birth rates, and that more and more people are only having one child.
– At the same time, we see that many families want more children. But they feel that time is not enough. Then we as a society must also have thought that isn’t it now time to look at opportunities to lighten the burden for parents of young children.
– So this is one of the MDG’s solutions for people to have more children?
– In any case, it does not help that the politicians say that now we must have more children without coming up with real measures. As parents of young children, we have to leave work at half past four, and we have to deliver to nursery school before we get to work.
– Least happiness
She believes that many parents are aware that they have to sit down to work in the evening to make up for lost working time due to being picked up at the nursery.
– Then it is not so surprising that parents of young children in their 30s and 40s are some of those who experience the least happiness and the greatest time pressure.
– This is almost four hours a week for a family or a single parent. How much will this cost?
– We assume that it will cost around 750 million. And that may seem like a stiff price, but at the same time we know that we spend over 30 billion a year on sick leave.
– Will free pick-up reduce sick leave?
– I think it will lead to less stress, and if you can reduce stress, you will perhaps see it in sickness absence.
Lan Marie Berg has previously advocated a four-day week in working life.
Labor Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) then commented that there is already a lack of both heads and hands in Norwegian working life, and pointed out that the MDG itself voted for the pension settlement in early March.
The settlement means that people have to work longer.
