Child Poverty in a Rich Welfare State

Norway is a rich welfare state with universal welfare services and statutory rights to benefits in the event of illness and unemployment. Recent decades have seen strong wage growth and low unemployment. In the same period the question of how those in poverty should be defined, and by what criteria, has acquired renewed political relevance. This article sheds light on poverty in a welfare state with high employment and economic growth. Drawing on data from two samples of Norwegian families with children, it examines the trend in incomes and living conditions over time: a ‘low-income sample’ below 60 % of median income, and a ‘control sample’ drawn from the entire income spectrum. The families’ income development is observed from 2000 to 2007, whereas living conditions variables such as consumption, housing and subjective poverty are observed up to 2009. Research questions examine what share of the families remain below the chosen poverty line of 60 % of median income 8 years after their selection, what share has risen above the poverty line and how far it has risen. This is followed by an analysis of the families’ material living conditions and subjective experience of poverty, and the degree to which they experience deficiencies in all three areas. By way of conclusion the results are used to question the standard assumption that poverty is a dichotomous condition and hence that the poor are clearly distinguished from the non-poor.