Rise in youth not in education or jobs

In her New Year’s speech, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen cited helping young people not in education or work as a key priority. Since the end of 2022, the number of 15-24 year-olds in this situation slightly increased from about 42,000 to just under 43,000. Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye announced a forthcoming government initiative to address this after summer vacation, without detailing the proposal. Despite a November 2023 agreement to boost funding for Preparatory Basic Education (FGU) schools, the trend has not changed. Kasper Munk Rasmussen of SMVDanmark (representing small and mid-sized businesses) suggests more support for companies that hire challenged youth could reverse the trend, and he hopes the impending proposal favours practical youth education.