Adoption
Adoption in Norway, and in Scandenavia in general, has become relatively commonplace. Norway and other countries in the region were among the first to partake in international adoption schemes. Currently it is legal for homosexual couples to adopt children in Norway, as well as marry.
In recent years the number of foreign children adopted into Norway has declined, while the number of adopted stepchildren has increased:
There were 703 adoptions in Norway last year. Adoptions of stepchildren have increased from 101 in 2004 to 236 in 2007. Some of the increase since 2005 concerns step-parents in partnerships adopting the partner’s child. The number of foreign adoptions has decreased since 2005.www.norway.org...
In the latest four years, the number of adoptions of stepchildren has more than doubled, and the 236 adoptions of stepchildren in 2007 represent 34 per cent of all the adoptions last year. The reason for the increase in adoptions of stepchildren the two previous years is, among other factors, that more partners in partnerships adopt their partner’s child. Last year, 30 per cent of the stepchildren were adopted by a partner in partnership, which is an increase of 13 percentage points from 2006.
In the 1970s stepchild adoptions made up about 46 per cent of all adoptions. In the 1980s the share was 35 per cent, and in the 1990s 23 per cent. The share of stepchild adoptions in 2007 is hence at the same level as in the 1980's.
Decrease in foreign adoptions
In the two previous years the number of foreign adoptions has decreased from 704 to 417. The main reason is that the period of waiting for an adoption from China has increased. Still, most of the children adopted inter-country in 2007 came from China. In addition to China, many foreign adopted children came from Colombia, South Korea and Ethiopia. The decrease in foreign adoptions was considerably smaller in 2007 than in the year before.
The majority of adoptive parents are in good social standing, with a high level of education, though one or both parent may elect not to work in order to support the child:
Adoptive parents are not representative of parents in general. All the surveys carried out in Scandinavia show that working-class families are under-represented among adoptive families (Rørbeck 1989, Kvifte-Andresen 1992, Cederblad et al 1994, Botvar 1995 and 1999, Dalen & Rygvold 1999). Botvar (1999) compares the father’s occupation in both adoptive families and families with their own natural-born children and finds that the humanistic-social middle level is particularly heavily over-represented among adoptive fathers. According to this survey, every fourth foreign adoptee has a father working in the health, social-welfare and education sector. We also find the same tendency among the adoptive mothers (Dalen & Rygvold 1999).
The fact that so many adoptive parents have occupations that mean they often come into contact with children and teenagers and with the welfare services may be positive for the children, since these professions require the parents to be educated in subjects such as psychology and pedagogics. In addition, we know that many adoptive parents take part in courses arranged by the various adoption associations. For that reason, the families should have relatively good financial and educational resources.
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The birth mother will be entitled to time off work and coverage for her prenatal medical care.
In general, adoptive parents are entitled to the same state benefits as a mother who has recently given birth upon the arrival of their adopted child:
Norway has invested a good deal of effort in ensuring optimal conditions for families with small children. Great importance has been attached to enabling parents to combine work and family life.
The parental benefit scheme enables parents to stay at home with their child during the first year of the child’s life. Parents who adopt a child under the age of 15 are entitled to largely the same benefits as those that apply when a child is born.
In order to be entitled to the parental or adoption benefit, the mother must have been employed and earning a pensionable income for at least 6 of the 10 months immediately prior to the commencement of the benefit period. The father must have been employed and earning a pensionable income for 6 of the 10 months immediately prior to the commencement of his part of the benefit period. The pensionable income earned during the qualifying period must be equal to at least half the annual National Insurance basic amount, i.e. it must be at least NOK 30,350 (2005).
The parental leave period in connection with childbirth has gradually been extended. Parents now receive parental benefits for 53 weeks at 80 per cent pay or 43 weeks with full pay. The corresponding adoption benefit period is 50 or 40 weeks. For births and adoptions after 1 July 2006 the parental leave period will be extended by one week to 54/44 weeks for births and 51/41 weeks for adoptions.
Religion in Norway.
Despite being regarded as one of the most liberal countries in the world, Norway has a strong Christian populace:
The main religion in Norway is The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway, to which 89% of the population belongs to and which is the religion of the state. Church and state are not separated in Norway, but complete religious freedom is guaranteed. The remaining 11% of the population belong to Islam, the Roman-Catholic church, various Protestant denominations, other religions or are non-
religious.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway today
The church receives support from the state, and the main reason for not separating these two is that one wants the Christian values to have a strong position in the society. “Christian values” in this context mean what most people would consider obvious moral and ethic standards - not stealing, not beating up others, respect and honor others etc.
Religion is not a big issue in Norway. There are various degrees of religious strictness in the church. Some parishes are very strict and want to do as much as possible completely by the Bible, but most people have a relaxed relationship to the religion. The western parts of Norway are traditionally regarded as Puritan.
Many of the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church are non-practicing, or they only attend services at special occasions such as weddings and funerals. To differ between practicing and non-practicing Christians, there is an expression in Norway called “being personally Christian”. That expression means that one believes in God, and is a member of the Church for this reason. Those who are members of the Church, but not personally Christians are members because that’s how it’s always been, they were born into it and haven’t really had to take a stand for or against.
Men and women in the Church have equal rights to become priests, bishops and so on. The King is the head of the Church, and he nominates the clergy.
The Parishes often run kindergartens and missionaries, and organize various church activities.
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Most Norwegians (83 per cent) belong to the Church of Norway and many people's religious lives find expression in church rituals and holidays.
There are 1,600 Church of Norway churches and chapels. Parish work is led by a pastor and an elected parish council. The country is geographically divided into 1,284 parishes, 106 deaneries and rural deaneries and 11 dioceses. The members of elected parish councils total around 9,000.
The Church of Norway General Synod meets annually. 80 of the 86 delegates are the members of the 11 diocesan councils. The Church of Norway National Council, led by a lay person, is the Synod's executive body. The Council on Ecumenical and International Relations is the executive in international and ecumenical matters. The Sami Church Council is responsible for the Church of Norway work among Norways indigiounes sami people.
Central administrative functions are carried out by the Royal Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs.
Financial responsibility for salaries and the maintenance of buildings is shared by state and municipal authorities. Additional parish activity largely depends on offertory money and voluntary activities.
The King is the constitutional head of the Church of Norway. He exercises this authority through the Council of State. Legislation concerning the Church goes through the Storting, Norway's parliament.
There are more than 1,200 clergy, of whom around 19 per cent are women (ordained since 1961). The first woman bishop of the Church of Norway, Rosemarie Köhn, was February 1993 appointed to the See of Hamar.
An average of 77 per cent of infants are baptised in the Church of Norway and a around 67 per cent of the young people are confirmed. The majority of weddings take place in church, and the great majority of funerals are church funerals.
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