The Danish government passed a new law making it mandatory for those receiving social support benefits to take part in internships and employment programmes 37 hours per week. The law applies to residents with fewer than than 9 years of stay in the country or who have had fewer than 2.5 years of full-time employment in the last ten years. The target group is estimated to comprise 22 000 people, mainly refugees and family reunified third country nationals, and particular focus is being placed on women within this group.
 
Currently, this group of residents is only eligible for the lower “return and self-sufficiency benefit”, which is half of the amount usually granted to a citizen who is unemployed and without private insurance. This amount would leave a single person without children with approximately 800 EUR per month before tax. 
 
The new law comes at a time when the number of employed citizens in Denmark has reached a record high: 3 million among a population of 5.8 million. Women in Denmark are employed almost to the same extent as men, and most children are sent to day care from the age of 1.
 
In the same week that the government passed this new law, a research report was launched by the private Rockwool Research Institute and state institution VIVE: the Danish Centre for Social Science Research. The report presents three key findings:

1. Intensive employment efforts for migrants who are far from the labour market have limited effect.
2. More migrants end up receiving early retirement pensions after participation in intensive employment efforts.
3. Intensive employment efforts result in a large economic deficit for the state.

As numerous other studies have found, the Danish labour market needs professional and trained workers, especially those who have been educated and have previous work experience in Denmark, as well as good Danish language skills. The target group of the new law is therefore one for which it is difficult to find employment. With this in mind, work activities suggested by the new law as “useful jobs” within the public sector include cleaning public spaces, sorting uniforms before washing, cutting trees and bushes in public areas, and collecting garbage in green spaces. These “useful jobs” have been used as employment suggestions by job centres for some years, and have not had a high employment success rate. Other suggested activities are language training, job searching, jobs that pay by the hour, and internships.

Economic analyses show that Denmark is in severe need of skilled workers and will have a surplus of unskilled workers in the near future. Several quotes from the respective ministers of integration and labour show that the purpose of the new law is to send the message that “when coming to Denmark, you must work”. According to estimates from the Ministry of Finance, the new law will bring approximately 250 people into employment. According to the text of the law itself, it will cost the country 170 million DKR per year (22.8 million EUR).

Municipalities, which will be responsible for ensuring that activities for the target group are available, have criticised the law. Unions have also been critical, emphasising that many studies have shown that language skills and low competencies are the main barriers for migrants in accessing the Danish labour market.