Norway will contact 16,000 young disability benefit recipients from 22 September to offer them support in finding work or education. The initiative targets people under 30 who have received disability benefits for at least two years and is part of the Norwegian government’s broader effort to bring more young people into employment.
The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, Nav, will send the messages in batches between 22 September and the end of 2026, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion.
Recipients will receive an SMS explaining how they can contact Nav for information and assistance related to employment and education. Those who respond will be prioritised for a meeting with an adviser.
Contact with Nav will be voluntary
The government has stressed that participation is entirely voluntary. Contacting Nav, reading the information provided or asking for a meeting will not in itself affect a person’s entitlement to disability benefits.
Nav has also established a dedicated telephone line for the 16,000 people involved in the initiative. Advisers will be able to discuss their individual circumstances and possible routes into employment, education or other work-related activities.
Until now, Nav has not systematically approached people in this group after they had been receiving disability benefits for several years.
Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Kjersti Stenseng said the government wanted to recognise that people’s circumstances and capacity to work can change over time.
“Some people with disabilities have permanent health challenges. For others, their health and ability to work may develop over time. Some will never be able to work, while others may have the opportunity to work a little or a lot.”
Norway had around 22,300 disability benefit recipients aged 18 to 29 at the end of June 2026, according to the latest Nav statistics. They represented 2.7% of people in the same age group.
The number was 150 lower than a year earlier. However, the proportion remains considerably above its level a decade ago, when it was 0.9 percentage points lower.
Norway wants more young disability recipients in work
The measure forms part of the government’s Youth Initiative (Ungdomsløftet), which aims to have 30,000 more people under 30 in employment by 2030.
The programme combines several measures intended to make it easier for young people outside employment to enter the labour market, including employment support, training and programmes involving employers and social partners.
The government has also changed the rules governing how much some disability benefit recipients can earn before their benefits are reduced.
For people who have received disability benefits for at least two years, the income allowance was increased in 2026 from 0.4 G to 1 G, where G is the basic amount used in Norway’s national insurance system. The government described this as an increase from roughly NOK 50,000 to more than NOK 130,000, or approximately €4,600 to €12,000.
The current basic amount itself stands at NOK 136,549 following its annual adjustment in May 2026.
The change is intended to make it easier for people receiving disability benefits to combine the benefit with some paid employment without immediately losing part of their financial support.
Young disability rates have stabilised after years of growth
The outreach programme comes after a long period in which the number of young people receiving disability benefits increased substantially.
Nav says the trend has levelled off in recent years. The share of 18-to-29-year-olds receiving disability benefits remained broadly stable over the past three years and declined slightly during the year to June 2026.
The new approach therefore does not change eligibility for disability benefits. Instead, it introduces proactive contact with recipients who previously would not routinely have been approached by Nav, offering those who want it another opportunity to consider employment, education or other forms of activity.
