What you need to know for the test
- Most welfare services are financed by the whole population collectively through taxes and duties – not through private insurance or social contributions.
- The five regions run the majority of the health service, including the hospitals, which are free for patients.
- The general practitioner ("egen læge", your own doctor) is free and is the citizen's gateway to the health service.
- Denmark has ten years of compulsory education – but not compulsory schooling.
- The grading scale is called the 7-point scale (7-trins-skalaen): the highest grade is 12, the lowest is -3.
- The total maternity and parental leave with full benefits is 52 weeks (since 2002).
- Folkepension (the state pension) gives all elderly people the right to a pension regardless of income – it was introduced with the laws of 1956 and 1964.
- The 98 kommuner (municipalities) deliver most welfare services in practice, e.g. childcare, folkeskoler (public schools) and elderly care.
What is the Danish welfare model?
The Danish welfare society is built on the principle that the citizen has both rights and duties. Citizens who meet the conditions are entitled to the welfare society's services. In return, they have a duty to contribute: partly by paying tax, partly by working if they can – a kind of informal contract between the state and the citizens.
The Danish model resembles those of the other Nordic countries and is therefore often called the Nordic model. It stands out on three points: the state has a large responsibility for citizens' welfare "from cradle to grave". Most services are financed by the whole population through taxes and duties – in many other countries, welfare is mostly paid for through social contributions from employees and employers. And welfare is made available to all citizens who meet the conditions.
The tax system redistributes between citizens. Danish income tax is progressive: the tax rate rises for high incomes, so those who earn the most pay both more and a larger share of their pay.
The health service
It is the five regions that run by far the greater part of the health service – including the hospitals, which are free for patients. It is also free to see your general practitioner, with whom most citizens are permanently registered ("egen læge", your own doctor). Your own doctor is the gateway to the health service and can, when needed, refer the patient on to a specialist or a hospital.
Not everything is free, however. There is patient co-payment for e.g. prescription medicine and most psychologist treatments, but with public subsidies. Dental care is free for children and young people up to and including age 21; after that, co-payment is generally high. The kommuner are responsible for, among other things, rehabilitation after hospital stays, home nursing and preventive care. Historically, the costs were covered by health insurance societies (sygekasser), which in 1973 were replaced by public health insurance.
Education
Denmark does not have compulsory schooling, but ten years of compulsory education: all children must receive education for ten years, but parents are free to choose between the public folkeskole, private schools or home schooling. The folkeskole (the public primary and lower secondary school) comprises a one-year kindergarten class (grade 0) and a nine-year school programme, with the option of an extra year in grade 10.
Denmark also has a long tradition of friskoler (free schools), going back to the mid-1800s. They are owned by an association – not by the kommune – and are financed with a public subsidy, while a smaller share is paid by the parents. In 2023, 19 per cent of children attended a free or private school.
From grade 8, pupils receive grades on the 7-point scale (7-trins-skalaen), which is used throughout the education system. It has two grades for failing performances (-3 and 00) and five for passing ones (02, 4, 7, 10 and 12). The great majority of educational programmes are free, and students can receive SU (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte, the state education grant) – those living at home at the earliest from the age of 18. After basic school, most young people continue in upper secondary education, e.g. gymnasiet (academic upper secondary school) or a vocational education programme.
Social benefits and pensions
About one third of public spending goes to cash benefits (transfer incomes). They include folkepension (the state pension), early retirement pension, SU, maternity/paternity benefits, the child and youth allowance, unemployment and sickness benefits, and kontanthjælp (social assistance). Housing benefit (boligstøtte) is financial help towards paying your rent.
The state pension gives all elderly people the right to a pension regardless of income. The state pension age is being raised gradually as Danes live longer: it was 65 up to and including 2018, became 67 in 2022 and rises to 68 from 2030 and 69 from 2035. On top of the state pension, most people today have a labour-market pension – read more under the labour market.
The total maternity and parental leave has since 2002 been 52 weeks with full benefits: four weeks before and 14 weeks after the birth for the mother, two weeks for the father at the birth, and 32 weeks of parental leave that can be shared freely. Since August 2022, however, the father must take at least 11 weeks of the leave.
Childcare and the tasks of the kommuner
The welfare model places great emphasis on services that relieve the family – especially childcare (nurseries, kindergartens and after-school schemes) and elderly care. Practically all children between 1 and 6 are in childcare, so that both mothers and fathers can work full time.
The Folketing (the Danish parliament) sets the framework for the welfare society, but it is the 98 kommuner that in practice deliver most of the services and act as citizens' main gateway to the public sector. The kommuner are responsible for, among other things, childcare, folkeskoler, elderly care, libraries, job centres and the granting of social benefits. The regions run the health service, while the state takes care of the police, the courts, defence and higher education. See also democracy and government by the people.
The welfare model's history and challenges
The first steps towards today's welfare society were taken in the 1890s. In 1933, 55 social policy laws were consolidated into four national insurance laws with the Kanslergade Agreement (Kanslergadeforliget). The most important groundwork, however, was laid in the 1950s and 1960s, including the state pension laws of 1956 and 1964 – see also Denmark after 1945.
The greatest long-term challenge is that there are fewer people to pay for the welfare that more people will benefit from, because life expectancy is rising and the birth rate has been low. That is why the pension age has been raised and the unemployment benefit period shortened to two years (since 2010). If you are unsure about a term, you can look it up in the glossary.