This chapter describes youth policy in the field of employment and entrepreneurship in Denmark.
The overall goal for Danish labour market policy is to ensure that the vast majority of Danes are able to provide for themselves. In relation to young unskilled people, the government has a strong focus on improving their formal skills through vocational education, because unskilled young people are at the greatest risk of unemployment and unstable employment. Hence, the government has established a legal framework to reach the targets:
- Young people in the 15-17-year age group must be in education, employment, or training (see section 3.4)
- and young people without education receive a special benefit ("education benefit") and an instruction to start an education (see section 3.6)
At present, Denmark has a relatively low NEET rate. According to Eurostat, the 2019 Danish NEET rate was 9.6% in the 15-29-year age group.
In October 2019, the Danish AKU unemployment rate was 5.3% in the 15-74 age group. In the last six months of 2020, the Danish AKU unemployment rate was between 11.9% and 12.9% for the 15-24-year age group (the percentages are adjusted for seasonal variations).
Shortage of skilled labour is emerging in some sectors such as construction, information and communication technology, and services.
Flexibility is crucial to the Danish labour market. It is easy for employers to hire and fire labour. This ensures a high mobility in the labour market. At the same time Denmark has general welfare services, benefits, and optional unemployment insurance funds that provide employees with a comprehensive income safety net between jobs.