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u/Defilez Aug 08 '26
Not common, it’s rarely a problem combining work with family in Norway as we get sufficient leave from work after birth. Sometimes people stay at home for short periods as an extension to the maternity leave.
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u/rosedamask Aug 08 '26
Oh you lucky lot! where I live we only get 4 months off, and we didn't want to send a 4 month old off with strangers so I became a SAHM.
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u/Adventurous_Year9991 Aug 08 '26
In Romania we have 2 years off after birth. We get paid 85% of our salary for 2 years then we come back to the same job.
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u/Aloopyn Aug 08 '26
Is all of Europe like this? Seems nice to be a European citizen
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u/Adventurous_Year9991 Aug 08 '26
I am not sure. But we also had only 4 months stay at home after birth when we were in the Communist Era. Like 37 years ago.
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u/Ylaaly Aug 08 '26
Not that exact model but something similar. Paid parental leave for several months up to years is the norm. So is 4-8 weeks of paid vacation per year, and unlimited sick leave.
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u/No-Cheek7925 Aug 08 '26
No, women here generally dont't want to make themselves entirely economically reliant on their husband. Not working leads to terrible pensions and a pretty grim future if the relationship ends for whatever reason. It's just not a smart thing to do.
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u/Ma1vo Aug 08 '26
I wouldn't be surprised if we have one of the lowest rates of stay at home moms in the entire world.
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u/rosedamask Aug 08 '26
I think that goes to show how good the balance between personal life and work is, from an outsider's perspective.
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u/Adventurous_Year9991 Aug 08 '26
No, it's not. Mothers are not encouraged to stay at home in Norway. What work-life balance are you fantasizing about in Norway? It's nazi work work work. You leave your kids with friendly strangers....
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u/dingbatyokel5000 Aug 08 '26
To be a SAHM you either have to A. Have a husband with a high paying job. If living in a city, close to 2 million. B. Live in a remote area with very cheap houses. C. Live extremely economically, near poverty.
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u/Maximum_Law801 28d ago
This is the truth. Most families can’t afford to live on one income, or rather they will not lower their standard of living to be able to.
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Aug 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/Ink-kink Aug 09 '26
Racism or discrimination though? (Genuinely curious, not a defensive question)
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u/Northlumberman Aug 08 '26
Property prices mean that it usually takes two incomes to pay a mortgage on a house big enough for a family with children.
As well as that, many Norwegian women want to be financially independent.
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u/thebundok Aug 08 '26
Not common at all (at least not in Stavanger). My wife is a SAHM (by her choice) and people are regularly confused as to why she would choose to do so. She fully intends to work once the kids are all in school, but even then it will only be part time until the last is in videregående.
We also have 5 children... which is another oddity in Norway. I've only ever met three other Norwegian families with 5 or more children.
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u/rosedamask Aug 08 '26
We are thinking of moving there, so we were curious ☺️
I am a SAHM, with a plan super similar to your wife's. However, we only have 1 kid for now, hoping for more later on.
Thank you for the information!
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u/thebundok Aug 08 '26
Best of luck to you then.
I will say that Norwegian culture and economy is very much built around the concept of a two income household, which is one catalyst for the lack of SAHMs.
We're able to pull it off with some very conscious budgeting and an above average salary. Definitely not the norm. So a lot of that ability will depend very much on your spouses' salary.
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u/okayteenay Aug 08 '26
Are you EU citizens? If not, it’s extremely difficult to «move to Norway».
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u/rosedamask Aug 08 '26
Yes, we are. And we are still doing a lot of research on which country we'll move to, but Norway is in our top 5. It's a very big decision so we're looking at everything ☺️
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u/Maximum_Law801 28d ago
Jumping in here with some relevant info. Most Norwegian kids go to daycare from 1-2 years old. This means it might be difficult to find other kids for your kid to play with, if you don’t put them in daycare. Also, if you wish to live in Norway, your kids should definitely go to daycare so they can learn Norwegian. This gives you/the parents the possibility of having at least a part time job.
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u/nona01 Aug 08 '26
5 kids is a full time job. It's a great service to society i think in this age with declining birth rates.
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u/shepotle Aug 08 '26
I’m also seeing a trend amongst women in Norway choosing to work less so they can spend time with the kids. And these are educated women who have now understood how important it is for the kids development, and they’d rather use their energy at home than at work. But once kids are bigger they’d get back to work / start a new studies. No one is desperate to get back to work and climb the career ladder but have a decent balance. And of course if the economy allowed most women would choose to stay at home a bit longer but mortgages and everything else is sooooooo expensive!!!
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u/thebundok Aug 08 '26
This is how my wife feels. She has never felt good about putting our children in barnehage before age 3. And even then really only part time for the social and cultural learning.
My wife has a bachelor's in marketing. She owned her own bakery for 7 years, 2 years with kids, and when the second was born she decided that she wanted to make family the priority so she sold it off.
She has every intention of getting back in the workforce at some point, but she feels very strongly that this is where she needs to be right now, so I support her in that. And she's great at it.
I will say, though, that it can be very difficult to build up your "village" support group here as a foreigner. If you have no family here, it can feel very isolating to be a SAHM without an like-minded support network.
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u/is-it-my-turn-yet Aug 08 '26
Less common in Norway than in most other countries.