Xenophobia Threatens the Danish Welfare Model

22 January 2021 | Wall Street International* — Denmark is known as a country where social justice prevails and where everyone has secured a daily life without having to live in worry about tomorrow, even if sickness and unemployment knock on the door. I was born in Denmark, two generations ago, and couldn’t help but feeling a bit proud, when the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, Bernie Sanders, pointed to Denmark as a model to be emulated by the USA. What is it worth to be big and mighty, if it does not contribute to give better living conditions to people, asked Sanders.

He identified some outstanding characteristics of Denmark: It is low on poverty, low on inequality, high on income, high on tax, high on welfare, high on innovation and high on employment, with generous time off for vacations and newborns and with a relatively high amount of leisure time for workers. But the ghost of Senator McCarthy – a fervent anti-communist – is still very much alive in the USA. In the shadow of the presumed Danish socialism, Sanders lost at the primaries during the two last presidential elections.

A country governed by justice

Comparatively speaking Denmark may seem like a worthwhile model to Bernie Sanders, but in fact the Neo-liberal market forces have contributed to a serious downturn of benefits to its citizens. Denmark’s membership of the European Common Market since 1972 has taken a heavy toll on the Danish welfare model.

As a consequence of a high percentage of unionized workers in the Scandinavian countries and their close association with socialist-oriented parties, at least until the close of the millennium, the Danish people had the benefits of a highly efficient welfare package negotiated by the syndicates.

As the system peaked at the end of the 90s, Danish public institutions offered equal access to health and education services for everybody with a Danish address. The collective agreements between the syndicates and employers’ organizations – public as well as private – compensated anyone employed at an agreement covered workplace against sickness, a minimum of five weeks of vacation annually, maternity leave and a number of other welfare benefits.

Those not employed at a workplace covered by a collective agreement would be covered for a certain period of time by a social assistance package paid for by municipal authorities during sickness and unemployment.