Denmark society faces a stark choice: spend 4.5 billion kroner on food vouchers for millions, or spend 500 million kroner to lift every poor child above the poverty line. New government data reveals the cost difference, sparking fierce debate over whether Danish politicians are serious about ending child poverty. Source: Statistics Denmark - Danish Sustainability Indicators.
The Ministry of Employment calculated that lifting all 10,000 children currently below Denmark's official poverty threshold would cost approximately 500 million kroner annually, according to Ministry of Employment data. That's roughly 50,835 kroner per child per year. Meanwhile, the government's food voucher scheme costs nine times more while missing its target.
Radikale party exposes the math
The Radikale Venstre party obtained these figures through a parliamentary question, revealing what children's spokesperson Lotte Rod calls a "completely wild" disparity. "We can lift ten thousand children out of poverty. We can actually change children's lives if we would prioritize the money instead of just throwing it around," Rod said.
The food voucher program gives up to 5,000 kroner to individual recipients across broad income categories. But 162,000 Danes with liquid assets exceeding 500,000 kroner still qualify for payments. Some families earning over one million kroner annually receive the tax-free benefit.
Ninna Thomsen from Mødrehjælpen (Mothers' Aid) called the ministry's calculations "completely wild" because they prove ending child poverty in Denmark is "actually quite easy to do." She emphasized the daily anxiety parents face when unable to provide decent childhoods: "It's mothers and fathers who have stomach aches every single day because they can't give their children a proper childhood."
Government defends broad approach
Employment Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek (Social Democrats) rejected criticism that vouchers reach the wrong recipients. "We want to help children in families that don't have high incomes. But we also want to help pensioners, who are the largest group receiving this food voucher," he said.
Bek disputed characterizing recipients as "millionaire families" simply because one spouse earns slightly over one million kroner in a single year. The Socialist Party, which negotiated the scheme, argues the vouchers help many struggling families even if not perfectly targeted.
SF's political spokesperson Signe Munk acknowledged her party would have preferred better targeting but defended the compromise: "If we want the money to work now, we can't set up new models." She insisted the money reaches families where it's needed.
The targeting problem
The controversy exposes Denmark's struggle between universal benefits and targeted poverty reduction. The food voucher scheme follows Denmark's tradition of broad-based welfare programs, but critics argue this approach wastes resources when child poverty persists.
Alternativet's finance spokesperson Christina Olumeko said the ministry's figures "scream to the heavens" and prove the food vouchers aren't targeted at children who need them most. The Radikale party argues the government could eliminate child poverty for a decade with the money currently allocated for one year of vouchers.
Folketinget (Denmark's parliament) will vote on the food voucher scheme Thursday, with payments expected during spring and early summer. The ministry noted its poverty calculations don't account for labor supply effects, suggesting the actual cost might differ.
The 9:1 cost ratio gives opposition parties ammunition to demand targeted programs in spring budget talks - and makes the government's poverty rhetoric harder to defend.
Read more: Denmark Postal Chaos Exposes Dao Service Failures After Post....
Read more: Denmark Food Voucher U-Turn Exposes Coalition Cracks.