Iceland’s unemployed will be getting Christmas bonuses this year, and unemployment in general has hit record lows.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Welfare, those registered as unemployed in Iceland will receive a one-time December payment of 65,162 ISK. For those with children, they will receive an additional 4% of this bonus, or around 2,600 ISK, per child.
This bonus, for which between 3,900 and 4,200 Icelanders will qualify, is available for those who have been registered as unemployed in 2017 for ten months or longer, and can demonstrate they have been looking for work between November 20 and December 3. This payment will be made no later than December 18.
For those wondering if cash payouts to the unemployed will take away incentives to find work, it bears mentioning that registered unemployment in Iceland for September was at 1.8%. This marks a record low for unemployment in Iceland. As Statistics Iceland details, unemployment has been steadily declining in Iceland since 2010, when it reached highs approaching 9%.
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