Nav employee says welfare payments undermine work incentives

A Nav caseworker says welfare payments have become so high that they can undermine the incentive to work, Dagbladet reports. The anonymous employee says politicians would be outraged if they knew how much some recipients receive.

The caseworker’s comments follow concerns raised last week by Fredrikstad mayor Arne Sekkelsten of the Conservative Party about high social assistance costs in the municipality. Using Nav figures, he showed that a single parent with seven children could have more than 823,000 Norwegian kroner in tax-free annual income, in addition to covered electricity costs.

Labour Minister for Employment and Inclusion Kjersti Stenseng said she shared the concern and that it was “problematic if total benefits become so high that they weaken the motivation to enter work”.

The Nav employee, whose identity and workplace are known to Dagbladet, said the public debate had only scratched the surface of a system that was “out of control”.

“The mayor is absolutely right,” the caseworker told Dagbladet.

The employee said colleagues were increasingly frustrated because the public had little idea how large the payments could be.

“If ordinary people knew how much money many of these social assistance recipients receive without doing a thing, there would not just be protests. There would be riots, and people would be furious if they knew this,” the caseworker said.

The employee described a case from earlier this year involving a parent of five children. The office was discussing how to help the person return to work.

“After Nav had paid rent of around 20,000 kroner and electricity, the recipient had more than 50,000 kroner left each month. That is almost more than my net salary. How are we supposed to get them into work?” the caseworker said.

Repeated emergency payments

The Nav employee identified the system for emergency assistance as a central problem. Nav must provide the payments when recipients say they have run out of money.

“You can apply for emergency assistance again and again. It is based so heavily on trust. You can call and say, ‘I have no money’, and we simply have to believe you,” the caseworker said.

However, the employee said Nav often had a good indication of where the money was being spent.

“We see that a lot goes on lottery tickets and takeaway food, things that ordinary people in full-time jobs rarely allow themselves,” the caseworker said.

The employee said this could create an endless cycle. If Nav provided 1,000 kroner intended to last a week and the recipient spent it by the third day, new emergency assistance had to be provided.

Calls for a cap

The caseworker called for political action and a limit on how much people can receive. Referring to the example of a single parent with seven children receiving more than 800,000 tax-free kroner a year, the employee said having children should not be so financially lucrative.

“We have completely lost our way,” the caseworker said.

The employee said Nav workers lacked both the tools and the authority to change the situation.

“We can set conditions, but ultimately the law is so strong that if recipients do not follow up, we have to give them money anyway. And many people know that. ‘Why should I attend that programme? I get money anyway,’” the caseworker said.

Compulsory management of benefits can be used when Nav has documented over time that someone has misused their money, the employee said. But the process takes too long.

“It is not enough for this to happen for two months; it has to be documented over time. Think of all the money that may be paid out during the five, six or seven months before we have a case to build,” the caseworker said.

The employee believes the problem is similar across Norway because all Nav offices administer the same legislation. The caseworker said employees who fear for their jobs were reluctant to speak publicly.

“It is the politicians we need to address here, not necessarily the social assistance recipients. They have simply seen how they can use the legislation,” the employee said.