A sunshine story in a world of crisis

Once upon a time in one of the world's remote areas, a company searched for black gold in the sea. An expert on these matters thought they were crazy, so crazy that he promised that he would eat his hat if they were to be successful. Luckily for him he didn't own a hat, because it turned out the company had a sixth sense for finding oil. The company put a large sum of cash on the table to get their hands on this poor people's treasure.

But by that time, some wise men gathered to figure out what to do with the new found wealth. With the help of an Iranian, they constructed a system they believed would benefit the inhabitants of this outpost – not just the big, foreign company – believing that a lot more oil was hidden in the sea than let on by the experts.

And wisely they implemented the system as decided. Forty years after production started in the Norwegian Sea, Norway is now the world's sixth largest exporter of oil and the world's second biggest exporter of gas. Since the mid-90's, the money earned on taxes from the petrol industry has been put towards a fund which now exceeds $USD460 billion. If you take into account that Norway is a small country with just under five million inhabitants, well, you can see that this is a huge amount of money.

Each year, four per cent of this fund is allocated to the national budget, which brings me to the sunshine story. The worldwide financial crisis combined with the high costs to insurance companies and private hospitals, given large economies of scale particularly in Europe, has placed enormous pressure on the social welfare schemes that many take for granted. As a part of the campaign to privatize public services, even in Norway’s rural areas, we hear about how bad things are becoming. We hear about the excellent and immediate care received in private hospitals and little good about the public health system.

As a person that has neither been really ill nor broken a bone in my body, I have had little to do with these systems that are being attacked. But now, expecting my first child, I've just realised how incredibly lucky we are.

All appointments with a doctor or mid-wife, of my choice, during the pregnancy are free. Having experienced a few challenges myself, to date I have benefitted from the expertise of a physiotherapist on a few occasions. Also free of charge. The only thing I will have to pay is US$10 if I want a photo copy of the baby from the sonogram.

If I should happen to have a job where I work with chemicals, or work in a physically or mentally demanding environment, I would not be made to work during the pregnancy. Instead I am granted full maternity leave paid by the state, even if I'm not sick in any way. If I am sick, normal sick leave rules apply, which in Norway means that you receive full monthly wages for the entire period you are unable to work.

Three weeks prior to the due date, the mother is entitled to maternity leave. When the mother goes into labour, the father (or another person close to the mother) receives two weeks leave to assist the mother with initial care of the newborn. If you have a collective agreement (an agreement between the company and your labour union), this leave is fully paid. The delivery itself (as you might have guessed) is completely free of charge except for parking fees, which can be quite expensive in the now predominantly private parking garages around the hospitals.

Unemployed persons or those with alternative income in the 10 months prior to giving birth receive a one-time payment of USD$6,800. Employees are entitled to 46 weeks with a 100 per cent reimbursement of their salary (up to USD$7,000 a month). In this case, the mother is entitled to nine of the 46 weeks and the father 10 of them – the rest they decide themselves how to use. Parents can alternatively decide to work for instance 50 per cent and have a 50 per cent leave for a period of up to two years, or however they want to do it, as long as they take leave before the child is three years old.

Additionally, parents receive USD$180 monthly for the child until he/she is 18 years old. By law you are entitled to childcare services at a daycare centre with a set maximum price also established by law. This makes it easy for both parents to maintain full-time employment, even with children. At age six, the child is able to start school. Public schools normally adhere to high standards and everything is free except for food. Interestingly, Norwegians have a strange affection for eating dry bread they have brought from home, even when they are grown up and working.

I know that for some of you reading this, this sounds like Utopia – a fairytale that can never become a reality. Our Danish and Swedish neighbours lack our incredible amount of wealth (they only have IKEA and beer), but still they have managed to give their citizens almost the same Utopia. Regular taxes and VAT rates are slightly higher than ours, but if you look at what a citizen get's back it's well worth it! Why? In Scandinavia there has been a belief, until recently, that persons should contribute what they can manage, and receive as the need arises. Scandinavians traditionally believed that people, no matter their income level, have the same rights and are entitled to the same care.

And if the story ended here, the ending would be a happy one. Sadly, in real life the story doesn't end when the prince gets the princess. They have to continue their lives for better and for worse – something usually requiring a lot of maintenance and hard work. As is the case in my little story. Due to our oil, our social services haven't been attacked by the IMF or others in the same way as in the rest of the world. The attacks on us have been more subtle, and in my opinion scarier. That's why we have to ask ourselves what kind of society we want – what our values are. And then we have to fight to keep them – or to gain them! And yes, a better world is possible – after all we are the ones deciding what kind of world we want.