Financial/Govt Benefits for having children

I've been very happy raising two kids in Oslo. Although my husband is Norwegian, we primarily speak English at home, and it hasn't really been a problem for our older child. He is learning Norwegian at barnehage and English at home, and is gradually sorting out what language is which (he'll be 3 in March). Both are kids are too young for school, but I've been happy with the quality of our local barnehage, and the price can't be beat after hearing what my American friends pay for their childcare.

As for government benefits, I had worked for 3 years before maternity leave, so I got the same as any Norwegian, and immediately after my son was born, I started getting the child benefit (about 1000kr a month). I had our second child when he was 15 months old, but since I worked a few months between my first and second maternity leave, I also got full maternity benefits the second time.

I'm a Nordic citizen which makes some of the logistics of being a foreigner in Norway easier, but as far as I know, as long as you've worked and paid taxes before you go on maternity leave, you get the same benefits as any Norwegian. One thing to be aware of though, is that paternity pay is based on the mother's eligibility for maternity leave.

you can read more at NAV's site: https://www.nav.no/en/home/benefits-and … d-benefits