On this page

1. Political Commitment to Evidence-Based Youth Policy

2. Cooperation between policy-making and research

3. National Statistics and available data sources

4. Budgetary Allocations supporting research in the youth field

Political Commitment to Evidence-Based Youth Policy

Cooperation between policy-making and research

Many different forms of interaction guide the knowledge transfer between the ministries and relevant research environments, including for instance collaborative research and research partnerships, academic consulting in councils or standing committees in the ministries, purchase of research via public procurement, and conferences and networks.

Research-based public sector consultancy by the universities and the four government research institutes mentioned above are examples of institutionalised cooperation.

VIVE, The Danish Centre for Social Science Research (Det nationale forsknings- og analysecenter for velfærd) is an independent research and analysis centre operating under the Ministry of the Interior and Health. It was established in 2017 following a merger between the Danish National Centre for Social Research (SFI) and the Danish Institute for Local and Regional Government Research (KORA). It has youth as one of its focuses but carries out research and analysis projects in all the major aspects of welfare and the welfare state.

Recent publications include Participation in organised sport to improve and prevent adverse developmental trajectories of at-risk youth: A systematic review, 2024, and Gaming Between Leisure and Addiction: How Young People Perceive Risk in Video Games, 2023, and New system responses to juvenile crime: Experiences from Denmark, 2023.

EVA, the Danish Evaluation Institute (Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut) is an independent institution operating under the Danish Ministry of Children and Education. They produce knowledge about the Danish childcare and the Danish educational system at all levels – from the early childhood education to primary and secondary schools through upper secondary schools and vocational colleges to universities and adult education. Analyses and evaluations are self-initiated or carried out on request from ministries and municipal authorities, and many other clients. 

The institute conducts and publish a wide range of analyses in the field of youth. Recent examples are an analysis of Students' choice and experience of vocational education, and Viden om frafald og trivsel på erhvervsuddannelserne (Knowledge about drop-out and well-being on vocational educations).

NFA, National Research Centre for the Working Environment (Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Arbejdsmiljø) is a government research institute that conducts research about working environments. Specific research on young people and newly employed people includes  Youth health and safety groups: Process evaluation from an intervention in Danish supermarkets, 2020 and Precarious work among young Danish employees – A permanent or transitory condition?, 2019 and New forms of work among young people: Implications for the working environment, 2019.

SSI, The National Serum Institute (Statens Serum Institut) is under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of the Interior and Health. The main duty of SSI is to ensure preparedness against infectious diseases and biological threats as well as the control of congenital disorders. The research programme Danish National Birth Cohort (Bedre sundhed i generationer) is one example of research on young people’s health, diet and exercise habits.

CeFU, The Centre for Youth Research (Center for Ungdomsforskning) (at Aalborg University) carries out applied research in youth and youth life. CeFU works interdisciplinary, problem-oriented and practice-related. It was founded in 2000. Their research results have been published in a range of publications, covering themes such as: labour market and working environment, participation and democracy, different forms of school and education, vocational training, ethnicity, dropout from education, youth communities, young people with disabilities, body, gender and gender roles, quality of life and dissatisfaction, risk behaviour and drugs, health and well-being, education choice and education guidance, as well as vulnerable young people.

Policy themes covered by research

Several sector ministries manage Danish youth policy, and therefore a wide range of themes are included in Danish youth policy: education, labour market entry, socially marginalised children and young people, health and well-being, youth crime, etc. Because of the sectoral nature of Danish youth policy, it is hard to give a brief overview of commissioned scientific research in youth policy.

Below are examples of commissioned research and evaluations by relevant ministries since 2020.

The Ministry of Children and Education has within the VET-education programmes commissioned the following research and evaluation projects: Midway evaluation of the applicability of IT in vocational education programmes (Midtvejsevaluering af center for anvendelse af IT); Good practice for securing that pupils attending a vocational education programme proceed to the main course (VET) (Inspirationskatalog: God praksis for at få merkantile EUX-elever videre i hovedforløbet; New mapping of efforts towards dyslexics and weak readers in vocational education (Ny kortlægning af indsatsen over for ordblinde og svage læsere på erhvervsuddannelser); Drop-out from vocational training (Frafald på erhvervsuddannelserne); Prepared for the future: More skilled workers for the green transition (Forberedt på fremtiden: Flere faglærte til den grønne omstilling).

Within the General upper secondary education programmes the following research and evaluation projects have been commissioned: Report on the effects of the general upper secondary school reform (Gymnasiereformens følgeforskningsprogram 4. Delrapport); Inspection of the development of institutions within the educational sector (Eftersyn af institutionsudviklingen på undervisningsområdet); Report on the effects of a gradeless first year of secondary upper school (Forsøg med karakterfri 1.g); The expert group on ChatGPT and other digital tools (Ekspertgruppen om ChatGPT og andre digitale hjælpemidler)

Within the Preparatory education/special needs the following research and evaluation projects have been commissioned: Evaluation of the strengthening of the education readiness and Danish proficiency regarding less resourceful people of Greenlandic descent (Evaluering af puljen Parat til læring og undervisning); Report: Pupils returning from special education programmes to ordinary education programmes and their transition to upper secondary education programmes (Rapport: Tilbageførte elever og overgang til ungdomsuddannelse); Readiness and efforts regarding pupils not deemed ready for upper secondary education (Uddannelsesparathed og indsatser for ikke-parate elever i grundskolen); Turbo programme to improve the readiness for upper secondary education (Turboforløb til ikke-uddannelsesparate elever i-8-klasse); 

Within the Social inclusion in education the following research and evaluation projects have been commissioned: Evaluation of anti-bullying legislation and the national board of appeal against bullying (Evaluering af antimobbebestemmelser og Den Nationale Klageinstans mod Mobning); PISA 2018 focusing on pupils with an immigrant background (PISA Etnisk 2018 - PISA 2018 med fokus på elever med indvandrerbaggrund); Study of pedagogical, psychological counselling PPR in Danish municipalities (Undersøgelse af kommunernes pædagogisk-psykologiske rådgivning (PPR)).

The Ministry of Employment has commissioned the following analyses and evaluations: Report on the effect of spare time job ambassadors on youths from socio-economically disadvantaged housing areas (Puljen Fritidsjobambassadører til unge fra udsatte boligområder); Evaluation of the usage of bridge-building courses (Evaluering af puljen udbredelse af brobygning); Evaluation of the effects of bridge-building courses (Effektevaluering af brobygning til uddannelse).

The Ministry for the Interior and Health /Danish Health Authority has commissioned the following analyses and evaluations: Tobacco, behaviour and legislation (§RØG – En undersøgelse af tobak, adfærd og regler); The usage of smokeless tobacco among youths (Tal om unges brug af røgfri tobak); The European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (Den Europæiske Rusmiddelundersøgelse (ESPAD) 2019); Evaluation of the But Why campaign in 2019 (Evaluering af But why kampagnen 2019); The effects of digital media on social relations, communities and stress among children and youths (Digital mediebrugs betydning for sociale relationer, fælles­skaber og stress blandt børn og unge) and The correlation between screen time, physical activity and being stationary among children (Sammenhængen mellem skærmtid og fysisk aktivitet og stillesiddende tid hos børn).

Emerging issues

The national Health Profile 2022 established that a large proportion of the Danish population suffer from stress or stress-related illnesses. Young people and especially young women are experiencing problems with mental health, such as stress. Furthermore, the number of young people with depression and anxiety is rising (see chapter 7.1).

In December 2022, the government presented its platform, Responsibility for Denmark (Ansvar for Danmark). Here the government declares that it will set up a commission that must investigate the challenges of increasing mental health issues among young people. The commission should also consider the influence of social media and other causes.

The commission was set up in August 2023 and named the Well-being Commission (Trivselskommissionen). Its main purpose is to investigate young people’s failure to thrive. The commission consists of practitioners who work with young people every day, as well as representatives from association life and researchers with broad knowledge of young people's well-being. In addition, young people themselves are represented with two members in the commission. 

There are four overarching themes for the work of the commission: communities and relationships, early intervention and prevention, love of life and resilience, and the good digital life. The commission has stretched out to the population and asked for contributions about what the good youth life is, what challenges young people face today, and what are the reasons for young people’s increasing failure to thrive, as well as how this can be prevented and remedied. 

The Commission publishes continuously deliberations and results on their website.

National Statistics and available data sources

Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik) collects, processes, and publishes statistical information on social and economic conditions. It supervises or assists in the establishment and utilisation of central public registers that serve to perform administrative duties for the public sector, business and industry, and that can be used for statistical purposes and may assist committees and commissions in statistical matters. Finally, it can prepare statistical analyses and forecasts.

Statistics Denmark provides regular statistics on population and elections, labour, income, and wealth, living conditions, education and knowledge, and culture and national church. Often it is possible to break down the statistics by age, gender, and geography.

Statistics specifically targeting youth covers such areas as NEET's, socially marginalised children and young people, municipal expenses, academic level, living conditions, elections, crime, alcohol consumption, debt, and the use of media and museums.

Sector ministries collect their own data and statistics. The sector ministries use the data to analyse and evaluate measures and to report on specific targets set by the ministers or the government.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science collects data from higher educations in the ministry’s data warehouse. The following data is available: applications and intake, EducationZoom (digital tool that compares educations in a range of parameters (see section 3.4), student influx, duration of study, completion of study, drop-out rate and change of study, state education grant, EU citizens with state education grant, international mobility, and continuing and further education and training  (list not complete). Each year until 2019, the Higher Education and Science Report was published with analyses, data and statistics from the ministry.

The Ministry of Children and Education possesses several statistical databases, for instance the Data Warehouse (Datavarehuset), which contains data from primary and lower secondary education (folkeskole), general upper secondary, and VET programmes. There is public access to the database. The Youth Database (Ungedatabasen) is an administrative tool for the municipal youth guidance (den kommunale ungeindsats) and job centres. The database registers the activities in education and employment of young people aged 15-29-years.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens administers a range of databases, such as the Social Offer Portal (Tilbudsportalen), which is a portal with all the regional, municipal, and private social offers and measures; the Professional Quality Information (Faglige kvalitetsoplysninger), which collects data on different aspects of public day-care institutions; the Parent Management Training, which collects data on treatment in the parent training programme; and the Data Bank, which is a collection of statistics from reporting in the social area.

The annual Social Policy Report (Socialpolitisk Redegørelse) contains statistical data and analysis on measures, effects, costs etc. in the social area. An older English short version of the social policy report is available.

The Ministry of Employment administers Employment Effort (Jobindsats.dk), which is a public data bank with key performance indicators in labour market policies. It includes data about central labour market measures and benefits to citizens, such as unemployment benefits (dagpenge), social benefits, early retirement pensions, early pensions, foreign labour working in Denmark, and general employment indicators.

The statistics published by jobindsats.dk also include key indicators of recent labour market reforms, the disability pension reform, the flexi-job scheme, and the cash benefit (kontanthjælp) reform.

Furthermore, STAR, the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (Styrelsen for Arbejdsmarked og Rekruttering), provides statistics on early retirement benefit, absenteeism, and the unemployment insurance funds (a-kasser).

The Ministry of the Interior and Health and the Danish Health Authority administer a range of health profiles that publish data on young people’s health conditions (see section 7.1). 

Authorities under the Ministry publish a range of statistical data, which is available from the public database eSundhed. They also publish the annual report on drugs.

The National Institute of Public Health (Statens Institut for Folkesundhed) is responsible for the following surveys: the National Health Profile Database, the National Representative Health and Morbidity Surveys (SUSY), the School Children’s Survey (HBSC), and the Population Survey in Greenland.

Moreover, the National Institute of Public Health has conducted other individual surveys, e.g. among secondary and vocational school students (Youth Profile 2014), in specific population groups, e.g. among socially vulnerable people (SUSY‑udsat).

Budgetary Allocations supporting research in the youth field

There is no specific line of funding for research in the youth field.

The monitoring and evaluation of policy reforms are part of the ministerial budgets.