The proposal suggests giving people currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits (dagpenger) or social welfare 1,000 kroner each before Christmas, with an extra 1,000 per child for families, newspaper VG reports.

“Tens of thousands of children now have a mother or father who are facing Christmas furloughed or unemployed [due to coronavirus, ed.]. That means parents who are worried about the future and families less able to afford things than normal,” the party’s leader, Audun Lysbakken, said to the newspaper.

SV, an opposition party holding 11 of the 169 seats in Norway’s parliament, put forward its proposal on Monday and was to ask for an expedited decision, according to VG.

According to SV’s own calculations, the proposed payouts would cost Norway 280 million kroner, divided between 109,000 people who receive dagpenger and 70,000 on other types of social welfare, as well as their children.

The proposal did not initially appear to have the support of the government, with Conservative employment and social minister Henrik Asheim stating that spending to protect existing jobs was a higher priority.

“It is far more sensible to continue to deliver measures which contribute to existing jobs surviving the crisis, and creating new jobs,” Asheim told VG in a written comment.

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