Danish rules regarding children living in certain residential areas have sparked widespread controversy, particularly the rule that requires some children, starting from their first year, to participate in what is legally known as "obligatorisk læringstilbud" for 25 hours a week.
This rule is linked to what has become known politically and in the media as "ghetto" legislation, which later evolved within the legal framework concerning vulnerable residential areas and parallel communities. But what exactly does Danish law stipulate? Does it truly mean that the state compels children to attend daycare from the age of one? And what options are available to parents who do not wish to enroll their children in daycare?
What does the law say in short?
The system can be summarized in one key point: if a child reaches one year of age and lives in an area classified as a "fragile residential area" (not necessarily a parallel community), and his parents do not wish to enroll him in foster care, the law does not allow them to simply keep the child at home without taking any action.
The child then becomes subject to a "compulsory learning program" of 25 hours per week. This obligation can be fulfilled through a childcare facility (any nursery chosen by the municipality), or the parents can, if they wish, carry out the activity themselves under specific conditions and strict municipal supervision. If the parents fail to comply with the requirements without a valid excuse, the penalty can be the suspension of child benefits for three months.
Who are the children covered by the law?
The Danish Childcare Services Act (Dagtilbudsloven), in Article §44a, states that a child who is one year old and lives in an area classified as a «vulnerable residential area» (udsat boligområde), and whose parents have not registered him/her in a childcare institution, must be attached to a «compulsory learning offer» for 25 hours per week.
The rule also applies to a child between the ages of one and two if his parents take him out of a childcare institution and do not register him in another institution, as well as to a child who moves with his family to a vulnerable residential area and is in this age group and is not registered in a childcare institution.
What is meant by a "fragile residential area"?
Danish law uses the term «vulnerable residential area» (udsat boligområde) to identify areas to which a set of social, economic and demographic criteria apply.
According to the official definition, the area must have at least 1,000 inhabitants, and meet at least two of four criteria relating, among other things, to employment and education, education level, average income, and criminal convictions.
This classification is legally different from the classification of «parallelsamfund», although there is a relationship between the two classifications within the Danish legislative system relating to residential areas.
The «parallel community» is, according to the official definition, a fragile residential area that also has additional conditions related to the composition of the population, including that the percentage of immigrants and children of immigrants from non-Western countries exceeds 50% of the area’s population.
Herein lies the importance of distinguishing between the two terms: the rule of mandatory education for children from the age of one is linked in its legal text to areas classified as «fragile residential areas» (udsatte boligområder), and not necessarily to areas also classified as «parallel communities».
What does "compulsory learning offer" mean?
The law does not simply talk about providing a place to care for the child, but uses the expression «compulsory learning offer» (obligatorisk læringstilbud).
This program consists of 25 hours per week, and the municipality determines how these hours are distributed across the days of the week, ensuring a balanced distribution as much as possible. The law also stipulates that participation should, whenever possible, take place during times that allow the child to engage with the children's community, play, and participate in the activities offered by the institution.
According to the law, the program aims to support the child’s development in the areas of language, learning, personal and social development, as well as to introduce him to Danish traditions, standards and values.
Therefore, the issue is not simply about obliging the child to spend 25 hours a week outside the home, but rather the legislator has set specific educational, linguistic, social and cultural goals for the program.
Why was this system introduced?
The «compulsory learning offer» system for one-year-old children was introduced by Law No. 1529 issued on December 18, 2018. The stated objective was to promote the participation of children from vulnerable residential areas in childcare institutions, and to support their language development and readiness to learn.
The system also includes parents, as the law provides for programs directed at them that aim to guide and inspire them on how to support the child and enhance his Danish language skills and readiness to learn, in addition to introducing him to Danish traditions, standards and values.
This shows that the legislation was not designed as merely a policy for childcare, but as a tool for educational, linguistic and social intervention in the areas specified by law.
Can parents keep the child at home? Yes... but!
This is one of the most important points in the law.
Article §44 f gives parents who do not want to put their child into the «compulsory learning program» the possibility of carrying out the intervention themselves.
However, this option is subject to conditions. The activity carried out by the parents must be of a similar standard to the offering provided by the institution, and the parents must inform the municipality in writing before the activity begins, providing the required information about the child, the location of the activity, and who will be carrying it out.
Choosing this alternative does not mean the family is exempt from the authorities' oversight. The municipality remains responsible for supervising the activity carried out by the parents, and the first inspection visit must take place within the first month of the activity's commencement.
If the municipality concludes through monitoring that the activity carried out by the parents does not meet the required standard, the law requires it to enroll the child in the «compulsory learning program».
What happens if the parents refuse to comply?
If the parents do not ensure the child’s participation in the «compulsory learning program», and do not adhere to the programs directed to them, and there is no reason that the law considers an excuse, the municipality must make a decision to stop the child benefit (børneydelsen).
The law also stipulates cases that can be considered excusable circumstances, including, according to the text, a decrease in the psychological capacity of the parents, but this point may have a subsequent impact on the child or the parents.
The institution is also committed to recording the child’s attendance and informing the municipality if the child or his parents do not participate in the required programs, or if the child’s participation in the program differs from the 25 hours scheduled during the month.
The government portal Borger.dk also indicates that child benefits can be temporarily suspended if the child does not participate in the language learning program designed for one-year-olds, in addition to other cases specified by law.
Does the commitment continue until school entry?
In principle, the child continues to be subject to «compulsory learning» until he undergoes the compulsory language assessment provided for by law at the age of two or three, subject to the cases and exceptions specified in the law.
The obligation also ends in other cases, including the family moving outside the area to which the system applies or the child being placed in a childcare institution according to normal rules.
What does this have to do with the laws of the "ghetto"?
The «compulsory learning offer» system emerged in the context of Danish legislation that targeted what governments considered to be problems related to certain residential areas, particularly those related to integration, language, and the social distribution of the population.
This legislative framework became politically linked to what was known as the «ghetto laws,» and the official term then evolved to include a system of classifications such as «fragile residential areas,» «parallel communities,» and transition zones.
Legally, however, these classifications should not be combined into one. The rule concerning children from the age of one is specifically based on the classification of "vulnerable residential area" (udsat boligområde), while "parallel society" (parallelsamfund) is another classification with its own conditions.
