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Denmark has record-low number of unemployment benefits claimants

Fewer people than previously recorded are currently in receipt of the basic form of Danish unemployment benefits.

Published: 10 September 2021 15:44 CEST
Denmark has record-low number of unemployment benefits claimants
Denmark is currently seeing record numbers of job vacancies combined with low unemployment. Photo: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix

The number of people who receive kontanthjælp, the basic form of unemployment welfare, was 103,300 in June, according to Statistics Denmark data.

That is the lowest number since records began 14 years ago.

The number includes other basic benefits given to people on work re-entry programmes as well as the lower integrationsydelse which is given instead of kontanthjælp to migrants who are in the integration system.

People not currently in employment can qualify for welfare payouts known in Danish as dagpenge, funded in part by the state and in part by membership fees, by joining an A-kasse or unemployment union.

Non-A-kasse members can apply for ‘social assistance’ or kontanthjælp, the lowest level of benefit. It is only available to those over 30 years old, who are legally resident in Denmark, and who have no other means of support.

EXPLAINED: Should I sign up with a Danish union and get unemployment insurance?

Economic Council of the Labour Movement (Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd) senior economist Erik Bjørsted said that the new numbers indicate that the strong Danish economy is bringing people in from the fringes of the labour market.

“We are currently going through a jobs boom without precent in modern times. That is opening the doors for people on the edge of the jobs market,” Bjørsted said.

“The large drop we saw in the number of people receiving social assistance from 2004-2008 was back then called the biggest social-political advance in decades. We are now repeating it,” he added.

An additional factor in the low number is the suspension of the minimum eligibility period for dagpenge during the coronavirus crisis, another commentator said.

That means people would not have been forced to switch from one form of welfare to the other because their dagpenge maximum eligibility period was used up.

As such the current level for the more basic kontanthjælp is “artificially low, according to senior economist Niklas Praefke from organisation Lederne.

“During the coronavirus crisis, the dagpenge limit was suspended, so nobody used up their right to it during that period. That has put a plug in the transition from dagpenge to kontanthjælp,” Praefke said in a written comment.

The economist also said that a high number of vacancies in Denmark gave good potential for getting available people into work.

READ ALSO: Why does Denmark have so many job vacancies? 

The number of people receiving kontanthjælp peaked at 175,200 in 2015 before consistently falling, except for a sharp peak caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Denmark’s government on earlier this week presented proposals to reform rules on certain types of social welfare including the two main forms of unemployment benefit.

READ ALSO: What do Denmark’s proposed welfare reforms mean for foreign residents?

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WORK PERMITS

EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Want to intern at the elite restaurant Noma, at the architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, as a vet or as a nurse? Here's what you need to know.

Published: 28 March 2024 14:51 CET
EXPLAINED: How to apply for a work permit in Denmark as an intern

Denmark has a special scheme for foreigners offered work in the country as interns, with different rules for those employed in architecture, healthcare, farming or veterinary jobs, or other sectors such as the natural sciences, technical fields, the pharmaceutical sector, or culture.

As an intern, you can get a permit to work in Denmark and a residency permit without having to earn any salary whatsoever, let alone secure the generous pay levels required to qualify for the Pay Limit Scheme. 

But you do have to meet the conditions put in place, to prevent unscrupulous employers using the internship permit to bring low cost labour to the country. 

You can find an English language guide to internships on the website of the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (Siri). 

READ ALSO: Danish work permit agency changes practice for hotel and restaurant interns

Who is eligible to get a work permit as an intern? 

You need to be between the ages of 18 and 35 (or 18 and 30 for some sectors), and you normally need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country or current country of residence .

In some cases you can already have recently graduated and in some cases you can be studying a subject not related to the internship, but if this is the case you need to show that you have passed a semester’s worth of courses in a relevant subject. 

If your internship is unpaid, you normally need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period.

If your internship is paid, your salary must be at least 6,820 kroner per month, which has to be stated in the standard contract, and paid into a Danish bank account in a bank operating legally in Denmark.

Be aware that opening a Danish bank account can be difficult, with applicants normally needing to have a Danish address and CPR personal number. If you are having trouble you can apply for a basic payments account.

What qualifications do I need to show or paperwork do I need to provide? 

The rules are different depending on which sector you intend to carry out your internship in. 

Agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary 

If you plan to intern in the agricultural, horticulture, forestry or veterinary sectors, you need to show that you have passed a language test in English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or German at the A2 level or higher, in Common European Framework of Reference for Languages scale.

This is a very basic level, described in the CEFR as enough to communicate “very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment”. 

For English language tests offered by IELTS, the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) accepts test scores from 3.0, and for English tests from TOEFL, scores at Studieprøven level (C1 CEFR level). You will need to send the results certificate along with your application. 

To qualify for an internship in these sectors you also need to be studying a relevant subject in your home country, or the country where you have residency, and the internship also needs to be timed to coincide with where you are in the course, for instance as a practical element following more theoretical ones. 

“We compare the content of your educational programme with the job tasks which you will be carrying out during the internship,” Siri writes in its guide to internships. 

You cannot be more than 30 years old for an internship in these sectors. 

Interns in these sectors do not need to provide proof that they can support themselves. 

Healthcare 

There are no language requirements for an internship in the healthcare sector, and for medical interns there is no upper age limit (although an age limit of 35 applies for other healthcare interns). 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

You can receive an internship in healthcare even if your studies have recently been completed, but you must show that the internship is a continuation of your studies and relevant to the future role you intend to take on. 

If you have completed your studies, you should include documentation of any work experience you have had since completing your studies. 

If your internship is unpaid, you need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself over the period, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Architecture 

To be eligible for a work permit in the architecture sector, you cannot have completed your education and cannot be more than 35 years old. 

The internship must be related to the educational programme you are studying in your home or another country, and you need to submit an authorised translation of the list of courses you have studied, along with your application. 

If your internship is unpaid, you also need to show that you have at least 6,820 kroner a month to support yourself, which you can document with a bank statement or a copy of a scholarship certificate. It is not enough for someone else, such as a parent, to say they will support you. 

Which employers are eligible to take interns?

Employers need to be approved to take interns, either through a prior praktikpladsgodkendelse, or “place of internship approval”, or through sending detailed documentation to Siri on what the internship will consist of, including details of who will be supervising the intern, and prior experience the firm has with taking on interns or trainees. 

All public hospitals in Denmark are approved as places of internship.

If you are planning on interning at a Danish architecture firm, the firm must use the standard “Internship Agreement and Guidelines” issued by DANSKE ARK, the Danish association of Architectural Firms, and the Danish Union of Architects and Designers.

Architecture firms do not need to receive a separate praktikpladsgodkendelse but when filling in the standard contract, need to state the number of fully-trained architects and number of interns working at the firm. 

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