Extreme differences in poverty – Dagsavisen

 
 

– Generally, we can say that many children of immigrant parents living in households with low labor affiliation, and many live on social benefits. This applies in particular largely for families with persistent low income. It is also part immigrant children whose parents work, but low income. These include some immigrant families from Eastern Europe with short periods of residence in Norway, says SSB researcher Elisabeth Omholt.

 
 

Together with colleagues she made the report “Children and young adults with immigrant backgrounds,” which was recently published.

 
 

The report shows that 36 percent of children of immigrants today live in poverty. The figures are slightly higher for Oslo. In comparison, liver 5 percent of children of Norwegian parents in poverty.

 
 

Also read: Will free children from poverty

 
 

Integration

 
 

President of the Norwegian Immigration Forum, Athar Ali, is poverty among minority children a known issues. He believes there are two main reasons why larger proportion of immigrant children living in poverty than Norwegian children.

 
 

– I think adult immigrants easily fall out of the labor market, or have difficulty getting into the labor market. Many can not use their education and experience from home. In addition, many immigrants large families, and maybe only one income. Although there are several immigrant women in the workplace than before, there are still many large families living on one income, says Ali.

 
 

He believes the integration job becomes more difficult when so many immigrants live in poverty.

 
 

– I think that an important prerequisite for integration is that everyone has equal opportunities in society, and we have equality. If people living with poor living conditions, there is a problem of integration, he said.

 
 

For daily jobs Ali as clinical social worker at the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (BUP). He said poverty and living conditions also are a source of psychiatry problems for people but a minority background.

 
 

– Studies show that people from minority backgrounds are more prone to psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression. One of the reasons there is poverty, poor living conditions and isolation. The negative consequences for children’s upbringing, and it makes people’s lives difficult, says Ali.

 
 

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Offer to poor

 
 

That there are more poor children in Oslo, and that many of these minorities have among others Lions have experienced. They run a lot of offers for low-income families.

 
 

– In the summer we have had a number of activities aimed at poor families and informed about it through schools, health visitors and childcare. It gave us a little pus was that there were so many people who participated. We had a too little supply to the need out there, says district manager in Oslo and Bærum Lions, Ketil Stuan.

 
 

Read also: Roper, concerned about poor children