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Kontanthjælp recipients could do better at Netto
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April 18th, 2014
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Is there an economic incentive to get off of benefits?
Some people currently on kontanthjælp – the least generous of all unemployment benefits, but one that is guaranteed to all Danes by the constituton – could increase their income by taking a job at Netto.
The agreement for a starting salary at Netto with union HK would result in a single person without children receiving an extra 3500 kroner per month by going off benefits and behind the cash register, according to figures compiled by the labour group Arbejdsbevægelsens Erhvervsråd and reported in the newspaper Søndagsavisen.
Torben Andersen, an economics professor at Aarhus University, said that there are more reasons than just cold cash to get off of benefits.
READ MORE: More young people on unemployment benefits
“A foothold in the labour market as a cashier could create the possibility of finding other jobs that are harder to get when you come in from the street,” Andersen told Søndagsavisen.
Not enough
Mads Lundby Hansen, chief economist at the liberal think tank Cepos, thinks the increase in income is not enough to get people working.
“Transport costs and unemployment insurance will eat up a large portion of the gain,” Hansen told Søndagsavisen. “There should be at least 3,000 kroner of disposable income left after one takes a low-paying job.”
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