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Published: June 14th 2006
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The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. Hello everyone,
It is hard to know where to start in talking about Denmark. Most of us just sat back and said, Wow!
I guess, start at the beginning. Parents are entitled to 12 months off for the birth of a child. It can be split in any way they want--all mother, all father, some of each, etc. 94% of children enter government subsidized day care when they are a year old. The parents choose the setting. One of the more popular is where the kids spend most of the day outside in a woodland setting. Kindergarten starts at age six and grade one at age seven. Again, parents can choose the kind of school they want for their children. The government pays 85% of any private school. A neighbourhood could get together and set up a school, hire the teachers, rent a building and start educating their children. The government supplies the curriculum, but the school decides how to cover the material. Tests and exams are not required, however for all eighth graders in a private school there is a government exam that runs for three hours and an oral exam for 20 minutes. If the kids are not
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Most churches in Denmark have ships hanging in them. Various explanations. One is the notion that like a ship, your journey could end anytime. able to pass, the school can lose funding.
Kids grow up speaking Danish, but start learning English in grade three. In grade 5 they choose to study either German or French. In grade 10 they add a third language--Spanish, Russian or something else. Also, when they start high school, they choose to study either the British English line (language, history and culture) or the American English line.
The divorce rate is 30%, but the country makes sure that the children are looked after. Child support is not based on income, but the cost of raising a child. The municipality pays the custodial parent. It is up to the municipality to collect from the other parent. Here's another innovation they call the divorce train. Each Friday afternoon, children from a split family can take a special train to the town of the non-custodial parent. They return on Sunday afternoon. The train has a route between all the towns and the children are looked after by special staff on the train.
On to University. Only about 10% attend university. Acceptance is based on marks. Tuition is free and each student is paid $300. to $500. per month to help
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Trivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. Been open for 165 years. Combination amusement park, botanical gardens, entertainment facility and restaurant destination. offset the cost of books and living expenses. They attend for five to seven years finishing with a degree that is somewhere between a masters and Phd.
Children receive free dental care up to grade eight, including orthadonics. Health care, of course is free including the costs of artificial insemination. In fact, one out of every 20 babies is conceived this way.
87% of people work. Unemployment rate is 4.7%. 87% of women work outside the home. The wage differential is 10-12%. They have strong labour unions. The unions' greatest influence is that although people come from other countries to work (Poland and Hungary) they must be paid the same amount--different than other countries. Minimum wage is $12.00 per hour. Everyone gets six weeks paid vacation, ten stat holidays per year and work a 37 hour work week. Denmark has limited natural resources so they believe that their people are their best natural resource. Their manufactured products are known for their high quality control.
Overall, Danes describe themselves as homogeneous. There are no religious barriers--85% are Lutheran but only 3% attend church. Before the 1970's there were no ethnic barriers either. They tend to be pragmatic and take a long time to make a decision--they like to discuss, debate and look at all sides of an issue. They have a collective mentality--"everybody does it this way, so why would we change." They have a relaxed attitude toward authority. Not unlike Canadians, they respect authority, but if they can get someone to work under the table and save VAT (GST) they will do it.
Now the challenges. They have only 7% non-ethnic Danish population. They were happy to get immigrant workers, but then they wanted to stay. Statistically, 87% of Pakistanis and 93% of Turkish workers marry someone from their old country, even if they were born in Denmark. Their new spouses move to Denmark without knowing Danish and raise their children in their native language. As a result, many kids finish school without speaking Danish well enough to get good jobs. They get frustrated. 83% of crimes are committed by non-ethnic Danes.
Another challenge is that the average age to marry is 34. That means a low birth rate--only 1.7. Also, because of the long university education and because many kids take a year or more off while attending University, they don't start working until age 31 with retirement at age 62. That is a limited time to pay income tax to support this system.
In a population of 5.4 million people there are over 10 million bicycles. It is for good reason. It costs $2,000. to get a driver permit because of mandatory driver training. When you buy a car, you pay 180% of the purchase price for registration.
65% own homes, but you wonder how they do it. Homes are very expensive to start with, and then property tax runs $14,000. per year. As well, each year you pay 2.2% of the assessed value of your home in additional taxes. The amount gets added on to your income and you pay 45% income tax on the whole thing. As well, VAT (GST) is 25%. No wonder it takes two incomes to survive!
Bye for now,
Donna
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Marg Hambly
non-member comment
Denmark...
This looks amazing - definately old but with a polish of the new to it! I think I could spend some time there with no problem. We thought our taxes were bad but I guess we hadn't better complain about them any more....$14,000 sounds a lot worse! Take care... Marg