Benefits
Care benefit (home with a child who is ill)
Ensures your income when you need to stay home from work due to your child's or caregiver's illness.
There is also information on care benefit for employers and physicians and dentists or other healthcare professional.
Who qualifies?
To be entitled to care benefit, all of the following must apply:
To be entitled to care benefit, you must care for the child. Usually, this means parents or foster parents who live with the child can use care days. If you do not live with the other parent but have an agreement on divided residence, the child lives permanently with both of you.
In some cases, cohabiting parents and stepparents can use care days if they have received care days from a parent who is sole caregiver.
To get care benefit, you must be absent from work and lose income because of it.
These conditions must also be met:
- Your yearly income is at least NOK 65,080 (half of the National Insurance base amount).
- Your working hours or income are reduced by at least 20%
- You are under the age of 70
Also, the absence must be because the child or the caregiver is ill. You can read more about the situations that allow you to use care days.
You must have worked for at least four weeks before staying home due to a ill child or caregiver.
Exceptions if you have not worked four weeks
Periods where you received the following benefits can count as work:
- Sickness benefit
- Unemployment benefit
- Parental and pregnancy benefit
- Attendance allowance, training allowance, and care benefit
We can also make exceptions if you have been on unpaid leave for up to 12 months right after parental leave and have agreed with your employer when to return to work.
You must still have lost income, so you can only use care days from the date you were supposed to return to work.
If you have not worked four weeks before using your first care day, your employer does not have to pay you. You can then apply for payment from Nav.
If you live in Norway, you are usually a member of the National Insurance Scheme.
Normally, you do not need to apply for care days, but in some cases, you can apply for extra days.
What can you get?
When you have your own children living with you, you are entitled to a certain number of care days that you can use per calendar year. The number of days you are entitled to depends on factors such as:
- The child’s age
- Whether you are sole caregiver
- Whether the child has a long-term illness that significantly increases the risk of absence.
In general, you are entitled to:
- 10 days if you have 1-2 children
- 15 days if you have 3 or more children
In general, you only receive care benefit for your own children living with you, or foster children. You should not count other people's children, or your own children who do not live with you.
In general, you are only entitled to care benefit for children up to the calendar year they turn 12. This means that if you have older children, they will not affect the number of care days you are entitled to.
The exception is if you have a decision for extra care days due to chronic/long-term illness or disability. You are then entitled to care days for this child up to the calendar year they turn 18, and this can affect the number of care days you are entitled to.
Example:
If you have three children aged 8, 11, and 14, you usually have two children who give you the right to 10 care days.
If you have been granted extra days for the 14-year-old due to long-term illness, you have three children that give you 15 care days. The 10 extra days due to long-term/chronic illness or disability are additional.
Read more about the number of care days and whether you can share them, based on your situation:
When parents live together, both have the same number of care days.
Each of you is entitled to:
- 10 care days if you have 1-2 children
- 15 care days if you have 3 or more children.
You do not need to apply to Nav to get these days.
About sharing care days
Parents who live together cannot transfer care days to each other.
The exception is if one parent is unable to care for the child, the other may be considered to have sole care. Read more about when this is relevant under “When to apply for extra days".
If you have a new child with a new partner and also live with your own children from previous relationships, you are entitled to care days based on how many of your children live with you. This applies whether the children from previous relationships live permanently with you or have an agreement on divided residence.
You are entitled to:
- 10 care days if you have 1-2 children
- 15 care days if you have 3 or more children.
In this situation, your new partner may not necessarily have the same number of care days. You calculate how many care days each of you is entitled to based on how many of your own children you live with.
Example:
If you have two children from a previous relationship living with you, and a new child with your partner, you have 3 children and are entitled to 15 care days. If your new partner has no other children, he or she are entitled to 10 care days for one child.
About extra care days
Sole caregiver
If you have children from previous relationships living with you and do not have an agreement on divided residence, you can still be considered solely responsible for the care of these children. You can then apply for double the number of days based on how many children entitle you to care benefit and for whom you are sole caregiver.
Example:
If you have two children from previous relationships living with you and have a child with a new partner, you are entitled to 15 care days for 3 children. You can also apply for extra care days for the two children from previous relationships, which gives you ten extra care days.
Children with chronic/long-term illness or disability
If you have a decision for extra care days for a child aged 12-18 due to chronic/long-term illness or disability, this child should also be counted to find the correct number of care days. If this applies to a child from a previous relationship, these days can be doubled if you have received extra care days because you are sole caregiver of this child.
Example:
If you have three children aged 8, 11, and 14, you normally have two children that entitle you to 10 care days.
If you have received extra care days for the 14-year-old child, you have three children that entitle you to 15 care days. Because this child is from a previous relationship and you are sole caregiver, you get 20 extra days.
Remember that you must apply to receive extra care days for sole care or illness. If you have more than one child in these situations, you must send a separate application for each child.
About sharing care days
Parents living together usually cannot share the care days they automatically receive for their own children.
If you have received extra care days because you are sole caregiver of children from previous relationships, you can share these care days both with the parent who does not live with the child and with your new partner/spouse.
You can share up to ten care days with a new partner/spouse. These are in addition to any days they already have for their own children.
If you are sharing with the other parent who does not live with the child, you decide how many of the extra care days you want to share. You have the right to keep all the days or withdraw them if you do not reach an agreement on the distribution of care days.
You can also apply to take over all the care days from the other parent if they cannot care for the child. Read more under "When to apply for extra days".
If the parents do not live together but have an agreement on divided residence, the child is considered to live with both. Both parents are entitled to the same number of care days, just like parents who live together.
Each of you is entitled to:
- 10 care days if you have 1–2 children
- 15 care days if you have 3 or more children.
You do not need to apply to Nav for these days.
About sharing care days
Parents who have an agreement on divided residence for the child cannot transfer care days to each other.
The exception is if one parent cannot take care of the child, the other may be considered to be sole caregiver. Read more under "When to apply for extra days".
If the child lives permanently with only one parent, that parent is considered to be sole caregiver.
The residential parent is then entitled to all the care days and therefore has double the number of care days:
- 20 care days for 1-2 children
- 30 care days for three or more children.
You must apply for extra care days if you are sole caregiver.
About sharing days
If you have received extra care days because you are sole caregiver of children, you can share your days with the other parent and with your current partner/spouse.
Even if you receive a decision for extra care days from Nav due to sole care, you should not notify us when you share these care days. You must inform your own employers, who will then know how many care days each of you can use.
Sharing with the other parent
You can share care days with the other parent when you are sole caregiver of children, and there is no agreement on divided residence.
The parent who lives with the child decides how many days to share, regardless of any visitation agreement. The parent who is sole caregiver has the right to keep all the days if you do not reach an agreement.
Sharing with current spouse or partner
You can share up to 10 care days with a partner you have lived with for at least 12 months, or with your current spouse. This applies if you do not have children together or if your partner/spouse does not already have care days for their own children.
Read more about the rules for when you can apply for extra care days:
If you are the only one caring for the child, you may be entitled to double the number of care days. You must apply for these extra care days.
Regarding care days, you are sole caregiver when the child lives permanently with you, and you do not live with the other parent. This can be due to a separation, becoming a widow/widower, or being alone with a donor child.
For the child to live permanently with you means that
- the child lives with you, and
- you and the other parent do not have an agreement on divided residence.
If you have a new child with a new partner, you still keep the right to extra care days for the child you have sole care of.
Want to share days with another caregiver?
If you have extra care days because you are sole caregiver, you can:
- share days with the other parent. You decide how many days you want to share, regardless of the visitation agreement.
- share days with your new partner. You can share up to 10 care days with your partner or new spouse.
You do not need to inform Nav, but you must inform your employer.
About the application
You must apply to get extra care days if you are sole caregiver. If you are sole caregiver for more than one child, you must send a separate application for each child.
If you are employed, you must inform your employer if you are granted extra care days.
You must also inform Nav if
- you later agree in divided residence
- you move in with the other parent
- the child moves away from you
If you have a child with a chronic/long-term illness or disability, this may significantly increase your risk of having to be absent from work. In this situation, you can apply to receive 10 extra care days, or 20 extra care days if you are sole caregiver.
If you have more than one child with chronic/long-term illnesses or disabilities, you can receive 10 extra days for each child. You must send a separate application for each child.
When you have received extra days in this situation, you keep both the regular and extra care days until the end of the year the child turns 18.
About the application
You can apply online for extra care days if you have a child with a chronic/long-term illness or disability that significantly increases the risk of absence.
It is important that you submit a medical certificate describing the child's illness or disability, and how this significantly increases the risk of absence. If the illness is long-term, the doctor must also provide an estimate of the expected duration of the illness.
Good to know:
- If both parents live with the child (together or with divided residence), each must apply separately.
- You only need to apply once per child. If you have been granted extra care days due to a chronic/long-term illness or disability, the decision lasts until the child turns 18.
You can apply for extra care days if the other parent cannot care for the child for at least 6 months.
In addition to the situation lasting at least 6 months, it must be beyond the parent's control that he or she cannot care for the child. This can be due to the parent:
- being physically or mentally ill
- being admitted to a healthcare institution
- having a disability
- being in prison
- performing military service
In these cases, you can apply to be considered sole caregiver, even if you live together or have an agreement on divided residence.
If the situation is within your control, you will not be considered sole caregiver. This can be when the parent:
- works elsewhere
- studies or attends school elsewhere
- is military personnel stationed abroad
Care benefit cover your usual income up to 6 times the national insurance basic amount, which corresponds to an annual salary of NOK 780,960 .
Care benefit are calculated the same way as sickness benefit.
Read more about who will pay the care benefit based on your situation:
If you have worked for at least four weeks with your employer, the employer must pay your salary if you are entitled to care benefit.
The employer must cover the first ten days themselves. If you are entitled to more than ten care days, the employer applies for reimbursement from Nav from the 11th day. Therefore, it is important that you inform your employer about how many days you are entitled to.
In some cases, Nav can pay care benefit from the first day. This applies when:
- you have not worked for four weeks with the employer but are entitled under the exception rules. This may be because you have changed employers or are returning after sick leave or parental leave.
- you do not have children who qualify for regular care days, but have been granted extra days for an older child with long-term illness or disability.
You can then apply for payment from Nav, or the employer can apply for reimbursement from the first day if they have paid the salary.
Are you and your employer disagreeing or unsure?
Sometimes there may be disagreement or uncertainty about whether you are entitled to care benefit. In that case, your employer might not pay your salary as usual. You can then apply to Nav for care benefit, so we can check if you are entitled to them. It is important that you include a written explanation from the employer about why they are not paying the care benefit, and that the employer sends an income report to Nav.
When you are a freelancer or self-employed, you must normally cover the first ten care days yourself.
If you are entitled to more than ten care days, you can apply for payment from Nav. This may be because you have more than two children who give you the right to care benefit or because you have received extra care days. You can then apply for reimbursement from the 11th day of absence.
If you do not have children for whom you automatically have the right to care days based on age but have received extra care days for older children due to chronic/long-term illness or disability, you can apply for payment from the first day of absence.
You can usually use care days until the end of the calendar year when your child turns 12.
If you have been granted extra care days because your child has a chronic or long-term illness or a disability, you can use care days until the end of the year the child turns 18. You do not need to apply again; the decision applies until the child turns 18 years old.
When you combine work with financial support from Nav, you can use care days.
However, you can only get care benefit for the time you were meant to be working. For example, if you are partially on sick leave and have agreed to work two days, you can only use care days for those days.
If you are absent from agreed activities that are not work, such as work-oriented measures, you must check how this affects the support you receive. Such absence is not covered by care benefit if it is not paid work.
Important to know about earning the right to care benefit
Some financial supports give the same right to care benefit, even if you have not worked partially for the four weeks before you are home with a child who is ill. This applies to you who have had sickness benefit, parental benefit, attendance allowance, or unemployment benefit. In these cases, you can use care days if it was agreed that you should have been at work.
If you receive work assessment allowance, employment scheme benefit, or disability benefit, you must have been working, either full-time or part-time, for at least four weeks to be entitled to care benefit. These financial supports alone do not earn care benefit.
A child who is ill will have the same need to be home with a caregiver, even if you are not entitled to care benefit or the care days are not sufficient.
In that case, it is good to know that employees have the right to leave under the Working Environment Act §12-9 to care for a child who is ill, regardless of whether they meet the conditions for care benefit. This means you can take time off work, but it may be unpaid if you have not earned the right to care benefit.
You can read more about the right to leave on the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority’s website.
If you are not entitled to care benefit, you can ask your employer if you can take paid compassionate leave, even though it is not a legal right. You can also agree to use holiday or time off in lieu, if that is an option for you.
You cannot use care days while you are on holiday.
Holiday pay for employees
If Nav has paid care benefit to your employer, the employer will receive any earned holiday pay.
Holiday pay for employees is 10.2% of the care benefit for up to 48 care days and is paid the year after it is earned.
If Nav has paid care benefit directly to you as an employee, you will also receive holiday pay from Nav.
The period used for the payment of holiday pay, which is shown on the payment notification, is from May 1 to May 31 in the year it is paid.
Self-employed and freelancers do not receive holiday pay from care benefit.
Accumulation of pension rights
If you care for young children, you may accumulate pension rights for care work. This could contribute to a higher pension when you retire.
Other options
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When to use care days
You can use care days in these situations:
If your child needs care due to illness, and you must stay home from work, you can use care days.
This could be, for example, if the child has a stomach flu or influenza and therefore needs to stay home from school or kindergarten.
If your child needs follow-up due to illness, you can use a care day even if the child is not ill and in need of care on that day.
This could be, for example, that the child needs to see a doctor, or that you have follow-up meetings with a doctor, physiotherapist, BUP, PPT, or a responsibility group.
If the person who usually takes daily care of the child is ill, you can use a care day to look after the child.
This could be, for example, if a parent on parental leave becomes ill, if the nanny is ill, or if the kindergarten has to close due to staff illness.
You can use a care day if the person who usually takes daily care of the child needs to accompany another child for an medical appointment or hospital.
This could be, for example, if a parent on parental leave needs to accompany another child to an examination. In that case, you can use a care day to look after the child who is usually at home.
You cannot use care days for:
- meetings with the school that are not due to illness.
- planned absences, such as school holidays and planning days.
- routine check-ups not related to illness, like visits to the health centre or dentist.
- when kindergarten or school is closed for reasons other than illness, for example during a strike.
- keeping a child home to avoid illness, such as during quarantine.
Attendance allowance for a sick child
If your child is in hospital, needs surgery, or requires constant supervision and care beyond what is normal, you may be able to apply for attendance allowance for a sick child.
You can only use care days on days you were supposed to work. If it is your day off, you do not lose income, so you do not need to use a care day.
The amount of a care day you use depends on your working hours. If your hours vary, the number of hours that count as one care day will also vary. If you work a shift that goes over two days, it still only counts as one care day.
If you have more than one job, you still have the same total number of care days. You can use them across your jobs. For example, if you have 15 care days in total, and you use 2 in your main job and 1 in your second job, you have 12 left.
Are you absent for part of the working day?
If you are only away for part of a workday, your employer can agree to count it as part of a care day. Example: If you are off for two half-days, your employer may count that as one full care day. If the employer does not accept this, it will count as two full care days.
The employer is obliged to discuss whether they should approve the use of partial care days with the union representatives.
Self-employed and freelancers can also use partial care days.
Employees who use a care day must use personal declaration for the first three days.
From the fourth day, the employer can require a medical certificate to document that the child or caregiver is ill.
If you need to apply for payment from Nav, you must document the absence with a medical certificate from the fourth day.
By "fourth day," we mean the fourth day you are away from work, even if the fourth day is not a working day. For example, if you take a care day on a Friday, have the whole weekend off, and need to stay home with a child who is ill on Monday, Monday is considered the fourth day. Then a medical certificate may be necessary. The four days only apply if you are absent from work continuously.
You can use care benefit when you are in other EEA countries, as long as the conditions are met. What matters then is how many care days you can use according to regular rules, and that you are caring for the child on the relevant days.
If you are traveling outside the EEA area, there is a time limit for how long you can receive care benefit. The rules state that you can receive care benefit for up to 8 weeks within a 12-month period, but most will first be limited by how many days they are entitled to according to regular rules.
You must still notify Nav if you have applied for payment from Nav and will be outside the EEA during the period.
We need to know:
- Whether you are with the child during the time you travel
- Which country you are traveling to
- In which period you will be abroad
- Whether you will be taking a holiday
You notify us by writing a message to us or by calling 55 55 33 33.
Apply, forward or complain
Here you will find applications for those who need to apply for extra care days from Nav.
If you need to apply for extra care days due to sole care or chronic/long-term illness or disability, applications apply per child. If you have several children for whom you can get extra days, you must submit an application for each child.
Application for extra care days for single care
The application is digital, and you will be asked to log in.
If you cannot submit your application digitally, please contact us by phone (55 55 33 33).
Application for extra care days for a child who is chronically ill, disabled or long-term ill
Application for extra care days when the other parent cannot supervise children
Here you will find applications for care benefit payments.
Note: If you are an employee, you usually do not apply for payment from Nav, because your employer pays the care benefit.
Medical certificate
When you have used more than 3 care days in a row, Nav requires a medical certificate from the fourth day. You do not need a medical certificate for the first 3 days.
If you have been home with a child who is ill for only two days, you do not need to attach a medical certificate. You also do not need a medical certificate if you are back at work but need to use a new care day a week later.
If, however, you have used a care day on Friday, had agreed time off over the weekend, and still need to stay home from work on Monday, you must attach a medical certificate that applies from Monday.
Application for payment of care benefits for the self-employed and freelancers
Application for payment of care benefits when the employer does not pay
Have you received a decision from us that you think is wrong? You can complain to the Nav Unit that issued the decision. They will reassess your case. If they do not agree with your complaint, they will forward it to the Nav Appeals Management Unit.
Complain about a decision
The decision will have information about how to proceed if you want to complain, where to send your complaint and the term of complaint. If you have questions about the decision, you can contact us.
Appeal a decision
If you disagree with the decision of your complaint from the the Nav Appeals Management Unit, you can, with some exceptions, appeal the decision. The deadline for appealing is stated in the decision.
Processing time for complaints and appeals
Have you received a decision from us that you think is wrong? You can complain to the Nav Unit that issued the decision. They will reassess your case. If they do not agree with your complaint, they will forward it to the Nav Appeals Management Unit.
| Case concerns | Expected case processing time |
|---|---|
Complaint to the Nav unit | 10 weeks |
Complaint to the Nav Appeals Management Unit | 3 months |
Appeals to the Nav Appeals Management Unit | 3 months |
Updated 08/20/2025
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