Amundsen, from the Progress Party, wants to limit social grants to immigrants because he believes Somalis as well as other migrants have too many children.
“My wish is that we have a population composition that is sustainable. Ethnic Norwegians have a falling birth curve. But the solution is not to get an even larger immigrant population, on the contrary, we must ensure that the ethnic Norwegian population is maintained”, Amundsen told TV2.
Amundsen is opposed to the Christian Democrats’ plan to increase social grants for all children regardless of their origin. All children living in Norway are entitled to benefits from birth until they are 18 years old.
“I am very concerned that an increase in child benefits doesn’t become a hinder for integration. It will, though, if you reward immigrant parents who have four, five or six children”, Amundsen warned.
After the fourth child, social grants should be completely cut off, he said. Only immigrants are the beneficiaries of such grants because they have much larger families than ethnic Norwegians.
Especially Somalis have a very high birth rate, with a 2009 survey indicating that women with a Somali background aged 35-49 have an average of 3,81 children, more that double the average birth rate in Norway.
“When with the highest fertility rate are non-western immigrants, then one must adapt the child benefits accordingly”, Amundsen noted. The monthly benefit per child is NOK 1 054.
Christian Democrats parliamentary spokesman Geir Jorgen Bekkevold denounced Amundsen’s “race-based politics”, while several Conservatives argued that it was “unacceptable” to apply ethnicity to social grants.
In an opinion piece, Per Anders Langerod of the Labour Party called Amundsen’s proposal “pure racism”.
Amundsen is a known Islam-critic, and demanded that the country halt immigration from Muslim countries in Norwegian daily Aftenposten.
Norway’s fertility rates have been steadily falling and in less than a decade, though, the fertility rate has plummeted to 1,62, well below the replacement rate for the nation of 5,2 million people.
Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg expressed concern about the demographic decline in her New Year message. In 2017, only 56 600 children were born in Norway with the immigrant population reaching 17 percent.
