INTRODUCTION

Norway has a population of 5.3 million people, of whom 1.1 million are children, i.e. under the age of 18. Almost half of marriages in the country end in divorce; the rest end by the death of one of the partners. In 2018, the number of new marriages was 20,949, and there were 10,630 separations and 9,545 divorces. The number of minor children experiencing their parents ‘ divorce was 8,900. To file for divorce, spouses must either first file for separation and then wait 12 months or have been separated for at least two years. The prevalence of cohabitation is also high: 29% of children living with both parents have unmarried parents. The divorce statistics do not therefore reflect the number of children whose parents cease to cohabit.

In 2017, 12,647 families participated in mandatory post-separation mediation; almost half (47%) of the parents in these cases were cohabitants. Cohabiting parents tend to be younger and to have younger children at the time of separation than married parents, but otherwise there are no significant demographic differences between the two groups. Parents who have cohabited need a higher number of mediation sessions than parents who have been married, which is likely to result from their shorter experience with co-parenting. Researchers estimate that 20 – 25% of separated families have high levels of conflict, including negative emotions as well as disruptive and destructive conflict and communication patterns.

In 2019, 75 children from 47 families were registered as abducted from Norway. Additionally, 11 children from 11 families were registered as abducted to Norway.

In Norway, both parents are usually employed outside the home, and two thirds of employed women work full time. 8 Children aged one to nine years have a right to high-quality, affordable day care and after-school care. Health services are free of charge for children under 16, and schooling, including higher education, is also free. Social benefits and services are universal and individual. After separation, both spouses are expected to provide for themselves and for their children. Spousal maintenance is practically non-existent. Hence, economic issues are seldom subject to overt litigation. Most divorces do not require any involvement of a lawyer; rather, one or both spouses file for separation and divorce, and afterwards the spouses agree on the division of the matrimonial property.