Norway’s parental leave option offering a longer period at 80% income coverage is now chosen by almost half of parents. In the first half of 2026, 48% of parents chose the 80% rate, up from 38% in the same period of 2025 and 18.5% in 2024, according to figures published by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV).
The increase follows a reform introduced on 1 July 2024 that added 11 benefit days to the longer option. The change was intended to make the total amount paid to families approximately equal whether they choose full income coverage for a shorter period or reduced coverage for longer.
How Norway’s parental leave system works
Parents entitled to Norwegian parental benefits (foreldrepenger) can choose between 49 weeks at 100% income coverage or 61 weeks and one day at 80%, according to NAV’s current rules for the birth of one child.
The choice applies to the parental benefit period as a whole and, once selected in the mother’s application, cannot normally be changed later. NAV says the total payment is approximately the same under the two alternatives.
When both parents qualify for benefits, the period is divided between leave reserved for each parent and a portion they can distribute between them.
With 100% coverage, the mother normally receives three weeks before the expected birth. This is followed by a 15-week maternal quota, while another 15 weeks are reserved for the father or co-mother. A further 16 weeks can be shared between the parents.
Under the 80% option, the maternal quota and the quota for the father or co-mother are longer, while the overall benefit period extends to 61 weeks and one day.
The arrangement therefore gives families a choice between receiving more income each month for a shorter period and remaining on paid parental leave for longer with lower income coverage.
Norway extended the 80% parental leave option in 2024
Until 2024, choosing the longer option came with a financial disadvantage. Families receiving 80% coverage received less money overall than those choosing the shorter period at 100%.
The reform that entered into force on 1 July 2024 extended the benefit period at 80% coverage from 295 to 306 benefit days, adding 11 days.
The government said the change would make the total payments under the two alternatives approximately equal while giving families greater flexibility over how long they remain at home with their children.
One of the objectives was also to reduce the use of unpaid leave. Government figures showed that around half of mothers took unpaid parental leave, for an average of about 16 weeks, before the reform. The government argued that this could affect employment rights, including pension accumulation and seniority.
Minister for Children and Families (Barne- og familieministeren) Lene Vågslid said the previous difference between the two options had led many parents to take unpaid leave and risk losing employment-related rights.
“The result shows that this was a change many parents wanted,” Vågslid said in a statement from the Ministry of Children and Families.
Almost half of parents now choose 80% coverage
The shift since the reform has been substantial. The share choosing 80% coverage stood at 18.5% in 2024, before rising to 38% in the first half of 2025 and 48% in the first six months of 2026.
The share choosing 100% coverage consequently fell from 62% in the first half of 2025 to 52% in the same period of 2026, according to NAV.
NAV also recorded 9.4% more parental benefit recipients in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier and 14.6% more than in 2017. The agency says the longer-term increase is mainly explained by more fathers receiving parental benefits.
The reform has therefore changed the balance between Norway’s two parental leave options. What was previously chosen by fewer than one in five parents is now almost as common as full income coverage, allowing families to remain at home longer without accepting the same financial disadvantage that existed before July 2024.
