The Prime Minister will require migrant women to work 37 hours a day to receive cash benefits.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen: “This will be beneficial for non-Western women, their children and society.”

Women from non-Western backgrounds should get up in the morning, pack their lunchboxes, and go to work. It's good for themselves, their children, and society. That's the message from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who is now ready to expand the government's proposal for a so-called "work commitment.".

In an interview with TV2, Mette Frederiksen stated that if you come to Denmark, you must be able to support yourself and be part of the labor market: “If you are unable to find a regular job on your own, we suggest that there be a future work commitment of 37 hours.”.

The proposal targets immigrant women from a non-Western background (the vast majority from the Middle East) who live on the public welfare system rather than being part of the labor market: “If you cannot find a regular job on your own, we propose that there be a future work commitment of 37 hours,” in exchange for receiving cash benefits.

Opposition parties are expected to support the proposal.

This proposal is not new. Almost two years ago, the previous government, headed by Mette Frederiksen, also submitted a similar proposal. At that time, the proposal targeted approximately 20,000 people, especially women from the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey. However, the parties of the Red Bloc, which supported the government at that time, did not endorse the proposal. Nevertheless, Mette Frederiksen and her government will call on the parliamentary parties to negotiate and vote on the proposal and hope that the proposal will receive the support of the parties. However, it should be noted here that the current government, the SVM government, has a parliamentary majority that enables it to implement the proposal without the approval of the other parliamentary parties.

Work 37 hours a week or be deprived of cash assistance benefits.

Specifically, the government is proposing a 37-hour work week obligation that will include approximately 27,000 people who currently receive cash assistance. The model is simple: if you do not comply with your obligation to contribute 37 hours of work per week, you will be deprived of cash benefits.

The government is also proposing that employment requirements should apply in the future to people who came to Denmark before 2008. This means that 14,000 people will move from the cash assistance system to the SHO system, formerly known as the Integration Assistance System, which is slightly less than cash assistance.

“A new path” and labor market statistics

According to Mette Frederiksen, the number of immigrants and non-Western descendants who are outside the labor market is much higher than that of Danes, and this is a particular problem among immigrant women.

Figures from Statistics Denmark and the Ministry of Labor show that four out of ten non-Western women are not employed, and that the majority of them have been dependent on the cash assistance system for many years.

According to the Ministry of Labor, more than 40% of women who have received continuous cash benefits for ten years have a non-Western background. The Prime Minister has always addressed this problem, which no government has yet been able to solve. “That is why we are now taking a new approach,” says Mette Frederiksen.

This is what was stated in the founding of the government:
“The government will introduce a new work commitment that replaces passive support with a duty to contribute 37 hours per week for citizens who need to integrate. We must meet the demands and expectations of newly arrived and resident immigrants for self-sufficiency. The aim of the new work commitment is for more people to be connected to the Danish labor market and to obtain employment.“.
Source: Government basis “Denmark’s responsibility”.

Working in nursing homes

The job duties mostly consist of useful work, for example in the field of health and the elderly, so the tasks could be extra cleaning of public areas, sorting uniforms before washing, cleaning beaches, and cleaning municipal vehicles. In addition, there will be job-oriented offers such as internships in companies.

In this regard, Mette Fredriksen said, according to TV2: “Perhaps you could help with washing clothes for the elderly, it might be possible to do occasional work, there are many places in the community where we need it. It is useful work.”.

Principle of rights and duties

For Mette Frederiksen and the government, it is about one of the most important principles in Denmark, the principle of rights and duties, that is, everyone contributes what they can.

Mette Fredriksen says that this is important for integration for these women, and that they will have a better life when they go out and spend a workday than if they were sitting at home in their apartment. She adds: “It is also important for our labor market, because in the reality where we need more employees, such as in the elderly sector, there is no point in having someone who can work well but does not do so.”.

“A signal for all of Denmark

The work mandate should provide added value to both the individual and society, and part of the plan is also that if more people go to work in care homes, social workers, health workers, aides and nurses can focus on their tasks.

The Prime Minister believes this will be beneficial for the elderly, other employees, and women who live in isolation from Danish society for many people.

“This is also a signal to the whole of Denmark that we are a country based on law and duty. We are a country that depends on people going to work if they can,” Mette Frederiksen says, according to TV2. She acknowledges that there are some who are sick or unable to do so and emphasizes that it is not about them.