More and more young Scandinavians are choosing the “Fire” movement (Financial independence, early retirement) to stop working even before the age of fifty. It is a lifestyle whose goal is financial independence, saving sufficient money at an early age, and early retirement. It is an increasingly popular model among millennials, and has become known in online communities through information shared on blogs, podcasts, discussion forums, and, in general, on social media. According to what was quoted by the researcher from Oslo Metropolitan University, Mi Ah Schoen RepublicThe truth is that “only the wealthy can hope for true economic independence.” And also because, as the specialist specifies, “the average employee does not earn enough to be able to do this.”

But it is precisely Norway's generous social welfare system that makes the goal of leaving work before the age of 50 possible. «In Norway – explains private economist Indre Jo Reti – there is no need to think about private insurance or who will take care of you when you grow up. We have a system that allows everyone to have basic security. This makes the path to economic independence shorter. But welfare itself, as Wright explains, is threatened by the fact that more and more people can no longer or do not want to contribute. “We are still talking about small numbers – the economist specifies – but if they increase, the Norwegian model no longer holds.” This is a debate that includes politics as well: Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Kari Debvad Beck has said, in effect, that “withdrawing from the contributions system means ignoring that it is everyone’s efforts that make broad-based well-being possible.”

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