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Number of young homeless people falling

Benedicte Vagner
September 2nd, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

Cheaper and public housing may be the answer to the fall in Danish citizens living on the streets

More young people have come off the streets with government help (photo: JFO)

For the first time since 2009 the number of young homeless people has fallen in Denmark.

Although the exact decrease is not revealed, a study carried out by VIVE attributes a general fall in the homeless total to a fall in the number aged between 18 and 24 in the city areas.

In 2019, the number of homeless people stood at 6,431. In 2022, the number is now 5,789, which is equivalent to an almost 10 percent fall during the three-year period.

The positive outcome has been praised by Astrid Krag, the minister of social affairs and senior citizens. “Everyone deserves a home where they feel safe, and I am very happy now that the number of homeless citizens is falling,” she said.

A drop in in larger cities
In larger cities, such as the municipalities of Frederiksberg and Aarhus, there have been falls of 52 and 32 percent respectively.

The fall may be due to a focus on finding cheaper homes. Last year over a billion kroner was set aside for 4,050 cheap homes for homeless citizens. Recently, the government has also helped 2,000 homeless citizens by setting them up in public housing.

However, there are still problems with the older age groups: particularly those over the age of 60.

“The positive outcome does not mean that we have reached our goal as there is still an increase in those over the age of 60 who are homeless. We have established a National Partnership against Homelessness, which will tackle homelessness over the next few years,” said Krag.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”