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YouthWiki

EACEA National Policies Platform
Denmark

Denmark

Overview

Last update: 20 December 2023

In Denmark, there is no Ministry of Youth, no national youth law or national youth agency. Instead, youth policy is formulated in the sector ministries, such as Ministry of Children and Education, Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior, Ministry of Health etc. Because of the Danish youth policy approach, youth policy reforms are often cross-sectoral and coordinated by several ministries.

The Danish welfare model is characterised by strong redistribution of income through the tax system and a broad range of social services and benefits.

The Danish parliament (Folketinget) establishes the legal framework for the national youth policy. At the local level, regions and municipalities have the responsibility for implementing the youth policy. Municipalities are responsible for the welfare policies close to the citizen, such as childcare, primary schools, social affairs, eldercare etc.

Politicians at the local level are entitled to define local strategies and targets as long as they comply with national legislation, targets set by the government and a yearly economic agreement between the government and the local government. As municipalities fix and levy local taxes themselves, they have various options in adjust­ing their social services to local conditions. At the same time, the local authority sets the political priorities when trading off between tax rate and service level. This explains the differences in the service level from one local authority to the other.

Currently, Denmark is experiencing a low unemployment rate. According to Eurostat, in 2019, the Danish NEET rate was 10.0 % in the 15-34 age group.

Ratio of young people in the total population on 1st January

Ratio of men and women in the youth population

Statistic references

References:

Ratio (%) of young people in the total population (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_020 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Absolute number of young people on 1 January for the age group 15-29 (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_010 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Ratio (%) of men and women in the youth population (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_020 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Young immigrants from non-EU countries (2016): Eurostat, yth_demo_070 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].