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1. Youth employment measures

2. Flexicurity measures focusing on young people

3. Reconciliation of private and working life for young people

4. Funding of existing schemes/initiatives

5. Quality assurance

Youth employment measures

In Denmark, several measures are set up in order to integrate young people into the labour market. Some of the measures are permanent, while others are temporary pilot projects or experimental schemes. Most measures are administered by municipalities, in cooperation with unemployment insurance funds (A-kasser), and municipal youth measures (kommunal ungeindsats), and mechanisms are based on early intervention with widespread use of mandatory activation.

Furthermore, for unskilled young unemployed persons, the focus is on improving their formal skills through vocational education, based on the fact that unskilled young people are at greatest risk of unemployment and unstable employment.

Ungeløftet (The Youth Commitment)
The Danish initiative Ungeløftet ("The Youth Commitment") is a national, cross-sectoral partnership launched in 2024, that represents a concerted effort by the Danish government and its partners to integrate young people into the labour market through a holistic, coordinated model. Targeting about 45.000 young people aged 15-29 who are neither in education nor work, the initiative recognises that many face multiple and overlapping challenges, such as mental-health issues, family social-welfare backgrounds, or prior disengagement from formal education. 

Central to Ungeløftet is the creation of both a national partnership and local-level partnerships that bring together municipalities, employers and civil-society organizations. These partnerships are expected to enable young people to gain actual workplace experience, meaningful roles and access to support tailored to their situation — rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Among the specific mechanisms under Ungeløftet are initiatives like IPS (Individual Placement and Support) and “Flere unge skal med” (Supported employment for young people with social challenges) which target those with complex challenges (including mental health, social issues and low labour-market attachment).

Finance and governance of Ungeløftet are significant: the agreement allocates roughly DKK 2.3 billion until 2035, followed by permanent annual funding of DKK 150 million to lift the target group closer to education or employment. All 98 municipalities in Denmark are participating by 2025.

By combining early identification of at-risk youth, cross-sectoral coordination and employment-oriented opportunities within meaningful communities, Ungeløftet provides an example of how labour-market integration efforts can go beyond job search alone to address the full set of barriers young people face. 

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) measure for youths

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based employment intervention for young people with mental health challenges, supporting them in moving directly into ordinary employment or education while receiving integrated employment support alongside mental health treatment. 

Prior to Ungeløftet, the Danish Government supported the nationwide roll-out of IPS through the IPS for Young People (IPS for unge) funding programme, involving 27 municipalities. A total of DKK 72.8 million has been allocated to the programme for the period 2024–2027.

Furthermore, funding has been earmarked an IPS ambassador corps to support the continued scaling of IPS and to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration between municipalities and psychiatric services. An allocation of DKK 26 million has been committed to the IPS ambassador corps for the period 2025–2028 as part of Ungeløftet.

Flere unge skal med (Supported employment for young people with social challenges)
The initiative Flere unge skal med is a supported employment initiative for young people with complex social, educational or health-related challenges. The initiative provides coordinated, hands-on employment support across employment, education, social and health services, with a strong focus on achieving ordinary paid employment, including small numbers of paid working hours. The approach builds on previous positive experiences with supported employment for adults and complements initiatives targeting young people with mental health challenges under Ungeløftet.

Both the initiatives IPS and Flere unge skal med are administered, monitored and followed up by the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment.

Unemployment benefits for young people in Denmark

Young people in Denmark can qualify for unemployment benefits if they are members of an unemployment insurance fund (A-kasse) for at least one year and meet minimum income requirements. As of 2024, full-time insured members must have earned at least 263,232 DKK in the last three years to be eligible, while part-time insured members must have earned 175,488 DKK. Benefits are granted for two years within a three-year period, with extensions possible after additional employment of at least 52 weeks.

Graduates from education programmes lasting at least 18 months can receive benefits without prior work experience if they join an unemployment fund within 14 days of graduation. They are entitled to one year of benefits within a two-year period, provided they meet Danish language requirements or have worked at least 600 hours (full-time insured) or 400 hours (part-time insured) in the last 12 months.

To maintain eligibility, recipients must register with a job centre on their first day of unemployment, actively seek employment, and attend regular meetings at both their A-kasse and local job centre. The first three months of unemployment benefits are administered by the A-kasse, after which responsibility transitions to the job centre until employment is secured

Benefit rates and reductions

Unemployment benefits in Denmark vary based on previous work hours, income, age, and dependent status. As of 2024, the maximum benefit rate is 20,359 DKK per month for full-time insured individuals and 13,573 DKK per month for part-time insured individuals.

Graduates providing for a child receive 82% of the maximum rate without reductions, while non-providing graduates receive 71.5%, which decreases after three months. If under 30, the rate is reduced to 49.17%, and for those over 30, it decreases to 62.11%.

Young individuals under 25 without education or prior work experience initially receive benefits at their individual rate. After 962 hours (full-time) or 780 hours (part-time) of unemployment, their benefits decrease to 50% of the maximum rate. Those participating in activation programs of four weeks or more also receive 50% of the maximum rate.

For individuals under 25 with education, benefit rates depend on whether they qualify for standard or graduate benefits. If participating in activation programs after the initial unemployment period, providers receive 82% of the maximum rate, while non-providers receive 71.5%, which later decreases to 49.17%.

Employment measures for unskilled and vulnerable youth

For young unemployed individuals without vocational education, job centres and municipal youth measures prioritize guiding them toward vocational training to improve their employability. Eligible individuals receiving unemployment benefits, cash benefits, or education benefits may access various activation measures, including:

• Wage-subsidy jobs, with duration depending on whether the employer is private or public.
• Internship programs to gain practical experience.
• Socially useful tasks (nytteindsats), where recipients undertake community-based work for public employers.

Disability pension for youth

In 2013, the disability pension  scheme was reformed. People below the age of 40 are entitled to disability pension only when it can be documented that their ability to work cannot be improved by other measures (e.g., job clarification, , activation, rehabilitation, treatment/therapy).

Youth Employment and Education Requirements for Ages 15–17

Those aged 15–17 years are obliged to be in education, employment, or another activity in accordance with their personal education plan (see section 3.4). The aim is that those aged 15–17 years will complete vocational or upper secondary education or gain a foothold in the labour market. When a young person leaves primary and lower secondary education to begin vocational or general upper secondary education, the municipal youth measure must assess whether the young person in question possesses the necessary educational, personal, and social skills to begin general or vocational upper secondary education. In the case of young people who are assessed as not yet being ready to move on to further education, the municipality must provide training or any other assistance needed in order to help them achieve a positive assessment in this regard.

The municipal youth guidance units (Kommunal Ungeindsats) provide guidance services for young people up to the age of 25, focusing in particular on the transition from compulsory to upper secondary education or to the labour market.

Coordination with the National Youth Guarantee (YG) scheme

Denmark’s approach to youth employment aligns with the Youth Guarantee scheme by ensuring that young people under 30 years receive timely, tailored plans that supports to employment, education, apprenticeships, or traineeships through individualised activation strategies. In Danish practice, municipalities are responsible for implementing youth employment measures and do so in cooperation with education institutions and other relevant actors, ensuring that activation and support measures are tailored to the individual situation of each young person.

Flexicurity measures focusing on young people

There are no flexible employment schemes specifically for young people.

The employment system in Denmark is centred around the so-called Danish flexicurity model, which combines flexibility for employers and security for citizens. See section 3.1.

Reconciliation of private and working life for young people

Initiatives to support the balance between work and family responsibilities

In Denmark, the regulation of work life occurs through collective negotiations between trade union confederations and central employer federations on issues such as working hours, paid lunch breaks, salary during maternity leave/paternity leave, holidays, and illness.

There is no top-level policy to specifically help young people reconcile their private and work lives. Instead, policies exist to help all employees, the following, for instance.

According to the Act on Equal Treatment (Lov om ligebehandling af mænd og kvinder mht. beskæftigelse m.v., LBK nr 942 af 19/07/2024), parents have the right to ask for altered working hours and work patterns when they return to work after parental leave. However, employers are not obliged to accept their wishes.

The Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth (Lov om ret til orlov og dagpenge ved barsel, LBK nr 114 af 29/01/2025.) makes it possible to arrange the parental leave individually. Also, parents may return to work part-time and prolong the leave, but only through further agreement with the employer.

According to the Act on Part-Time Work (Deltidsloven, Lbk nr 1142 af 14/09/2018), further settlements regarding flexible working conditions are a matter of agreement at the local place of employment. As an example, it is possible to have an agreement with the employer to work part-time, teleworking, or work flexitime, but it is not a right.  
The Danish Working Environment Authority, WEA, (Arbejdstilsynet) contributes to the creation of safe and healthy working conditions at Danish workplaces. In the Woking Environment Act, a section regulates work performed by young people under the age of 18. Furthermore, WEA provides guidelines to promote a healthy working environment and well-being at the workplace, including preventing bullying and stress. In Denmark, employers have the responsibility to ensure a healthy, stimulating, and safe working environment.

According to the Act on Employees’ Right to Absence Due to Family Reasons (Lov om lønmodtageres ret til fravær af særlige familiemæssige årsager, LBK nr 915 af 23/06/2024), employees are entitled to absence from work when illness or accidents in the family make the employee’s presence imperative. In practice, employees are allowed absence on their child’s first day of illness. Depending on the collective agreement the employee is part of, some employees are entitled to absence on their child’s second day of illness. Depending on the collective agreement the employee is part of, some employees are entitled to salary during the first and second day of illness.

Funding of existing schemes/initiatives

The unemployment insurance system is a voluntary scheme administered by private unemployment insurance funds but is largely publicly funded. In order to be entitled to unemployment benefits, an unemployed person must be a member of an unemployment insurance fund (A-kasse) and pay a membership fee. 

The cash benefits and early retirement schemes are publicly financed.

The scheme of leave and benefits in the event of childbirth is publicly financed (Lov om ret til orlov og dagpenge ved barsel, LBK nr 114 af 29/01/2025). Udbetaling Denmark is the authority responsible for paying maternity/paternity benefits. Unemployed parents on parental leave receive parental leave benefits if they are insured. The benefit is administered by unemployment insurance funds (a-kasser) but is largely financed by the state. Uninsured unemployed parents can be entitled to cash benefits.

Some employees are entitled to a salary during a part of or the whole leave period. The right to salary during a part of or the whole leave period depends on the employee’s collective agreement.

No EU funds are used.

Quality assurance

In Denmark, politicians are increasingly interested in the effects of active labour market policies. The Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (STAR) is, therefore, working to support the policy process by systematically accumulating evidence about the effects of active labour market policies. This approach is formally described in the Danish Evidence Strategy, which has been implemented across the entire Ministry of Employment.

The evidence strategy follows three tracks:

1.    The gathering and systematisation of existing knowledge

2.    The production of new knowledge

3.    The dissemination of knowledge 

In its work to gather knowledge, STAR works together with various partners, such as researchers, consultancy firms, interest organisations, municipalities, unemployment benefit funds, etc.

The continuous development and implementation of policy and legislation can be seen as a constant cycle comprised of four steps. In step one, policy proposals that have been negotiated by political parties are articulated. In step two, the political parties decide the legislation. In step three, the legislation is implemented. In step four, the effects of new initiatives and policies are evaluated. Evidence-based knowledge plays a crucial role in these processes since it serves as an important source of input when designing new policies as well as the actual implementation of the employment policy.