Retirement happiness for the country’s young people

– Politics should be more like the slogan of a sports brand: Just do it!, is the main message of Ap profiler Hadia Tajik before her 1 May speeches today, at Lambertseter gård in Oslo and later in the Samfunnssalen at Arbeidersamfunnets plass in Oslo.

Translated, it means “Just do it!”.

The reason for the jubilation is the consequences of a legislative decision that was introduced on 1 January 2022.

The change was called “pension from the first krone” and was cheered by LO and carried forward by the government.

From that day, a change in the law was introduced which meant that everyone, including young people under the age of 13 and people with low employment rates, were entitled to a pension.

Here are the consequences:

• On 1 January 2022, there were 1,567,505 who had this pension accrual, according to statistics from the Pension Office Register, which Finans Norge has extracted.
• Today, the number has risen sharply. By March 2024, it had increased to 2,069,071:
• An increase of 501,566 people.

The main move is that the company is required to set aside a minimum of two percent of its employees’ gross salary for pensions, even if you only work in the cash register at Kiwi twice a month.

Young jerk

The sensationally new thing is that it is actually young people who have now really benefited from the scheme:

• From 1 January 2022 to today, the number of people aged between 13 and 29 who benefit from the scheme has increased from 327,294 to 593,683.
• They have suddenly become the largest pension group in the country that is part of the compulsory occupational pension scheme. (OTP)
• The number between 16 and 19 has increased from 26,199 to 119,365.

More details about the scheme here

OTP IS CALLED IT: The scheme is called compulsory occupational pension scheme (OTP) and is a scheme that most employers in Norway must set up for their employees.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE: The new rules mean, among other things, that there will be a requirement for all private occupational pension schemes to save at least 2 per cent of the members’ income from the first kroner.

EVEN SMALL JOBS COUNT: Furthermore, the minimum requirement for a 20 per cent position for the right to membership in the schemes is lifted.

13-YEAR-OLDS ALSO GET: The age limit for membership is lowered from 20 to 13 years as in the national insurance.

LOW LIMIT: Employees are entitled to membership in the schemes when their income exceeds the limits for reportable wages in the a scheme. This limit is, as a general rule, NOK 1,000, but NOK 10,000 for tax-exempt organizations and so on.

Source: The Government

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– Proud

– This case is a good example of politics working and that 1 May is still important, says Tajik, referring to the fact that it has been a long battle, for which the trade union movement has fought and struck.

– Are these 500,000 who can benefit from the scheme, or who have actually had pension money set aside?

– There are 500,000 who now actually receive a pension, says Tajik.

– It is perhaps not so strange that you are among those who cheer the loudest, since it was you as Minister of Labour trumped the decision through before you left?

– Waiting to make decisions that are ripe for action only contributes to prolonging injustice. I am proud that this change in the law has in such a short time provided a stronger economic basis for over half a million Norwegians.

– Weird to think about

She says that all important social reforms face resistance.

– Pension from the first kroner was no exception. It’s strange to think about now, but originally making changes to the law to introduce a pension from the first kroner was controversial, she says and adds:

– Especially people on the right believed that it would rather be left to the parties in working life to decide, which in practice meant that nothing would come of it – because the employer side was critical.

– It’s worth it

She says that the changes to the law were passed anyway.

– But then the controversial thing was to introduce it quickly. As labor minister, I was told everything from that this would be too great a financial burden for the companies to that the practical restructuring required too much. The companies have coped just fine, and so far half a million Norwegians have received a pension boost.

– Is this a cost that the country’s employers get?

– It has been a long and important battle for you to win with this reform, to ensure that especially women with low wages also receive pension accruals. It’s worth it.

She says that the costs will not increase significantly for the employers.

She receives support from Stefi Kierulf Prytz, Director of Insurance and Pensions at Finans Norge.

– Extra important

– For the companies, it does not involve very large costs to have pension savings also for summer temps and part-time workers, but for a young person the savings can make a big difference over time.

She says it is very important that young people become familiar with the importance of pension savings early on.

– And the longer you have to save, the more we have to assume that the occupational pension can create good, independent lives when you retire. Pension savings are especially important for women, who also live longer.