Immigration and Welfare State Cash Benefits: The Danish Case

The purpose in this paper is to summarize existing evidence on welfare dependence among immigrants in Denmark and to supply new evidence with focus on the most recent years. Focus is on immigrants from non-western countries. The paper contains an overview of the background regarding immigration in recent decades followed by a survey of relevant benefit programmes in the Danish welfare state. Existing studies focus on both macro analyses of the overall impact from immigration on the public sector budget and on micro oriented studies with focus on specific welfare programs. Existing studies focus on the importance for welfare dependence of demographic variables, on the big variation between countries of origin and on the importance of cyclical factors at time of entry and during the first years in the new country. Evidence from the most recent years reinforce the importance of aggregate low unemployment in contrast to fairly small effects found from policy changes intending to influence the economic incentives between welfare and a job for immigrants.immigration, general welfare programs, effects of welfare programs

Happiness in Europe: Cross-Country Differences in the Determinants of Subjective Well-Being

The purpose in the present paper is to use individual panel data in the European Community Household Panel to analyse the impact on self-reported satisfaction from a number of economic and demographic variables. The paper contributes to the ongoing discussion of the relationship between life satisfaction and income. The panel property of the data makes it possible to study also the impact on satisfaction from income changes as well as the impact from acceleration in income and changes in labour market status on changes in satisfaction. A number of demographic variables and individual attitude indicators are also entered into the analysis of both the level of satisfaction and the change in satisfaction from one wave of the survey to the next. We find a strong impact from the level of income in all countries, an impact from change and acceleration in income for a smaller number of countries, a strong impact from most changes in labour market status and finally important effects from a number of demographic variables.satisfaction, income, labour market status, health

Immigration and welfare state cash benefits: The Danish case

The purpose in this paper is to summarize existing evidence on welfare dependence among immigrants in Denmark and to supply new evidence with focus on the most recent years. Focus is on immigrants from non-western countries. The paper contains an overview of the background regarding immigration in recent decades followed by a survey of relevant benefit programmes in the Danish welfare state. Existing studies focus on both macro analyses of the overall impact from immigration on the public sector budget and on micro oriented studies with focus on specific welfare programs. Existing studies focus on the importance for welfare dependence of demographic variables, on the big variation between countries of origin and on the importance of cyclical factors at time of entry and during the first years in the new country. Evidence from the most recent years reinforce the importance of aggregate low unemployment in contrast to fairly small effects found from policy changes intending to influence the economic incentives between welfare and a job for immigrants

Immigration in a High Unemployment Economy: The Recent Danish Experience

The purpose in this paper is to survey the course of immigration into Denmark and research and studies related to the problems encountered in this area. The first part of the paper describes the actual flows of migrants in the most recent decades. The directly job-related part of migration can not be identified precisely. A survey of research results indicate net migration flows towards other OECD countries is sensitive to cyclical indicators and thus mainly labour market related. The paper goes on to survey immigration policy and available evidence regarding the labour market integration of both 1. and 2. generation immigrants. Immigrants and refugees are recorded on average with much higher unemployment and much lower labour market participation than Danish citizens. The status in the late 1990s points to the pressing need for policy initiatives to improve this situation. Finally, the paper summarizes available results regarding the impact on public finances from immigration

Danish music education and the ‘rhythmic music’ concept: some aspects

Abstract: In Danish state schools from elementary to upper secondary school music has been part of curricula at all levels. It has been widely accepted that both individuals and culture benefit from art subjects, creative activities etc. This type of motivation was sufficient support for maintaining music as a subject in the educational system from around 1960 to around 2000. This tradition dates back to the 1920s, when the first Social Democratic government in Danish history (1924-26), with Nina Bang as minister of education (probably the first female minister worldwide), in the field of music made an alliance with innovative concepts of music as a subject rooted in 1) ‘folkelig’ (‘folksy’) music (a term associated with the Danish Folk High Scool movement and musically with composers as Carl Nielsen, Thomas Laub and others) and in 2) the establishing of music as a university subject founded on up-to-date paradigms in European musicology in the early part of the 20th century. When jazz entered the (musical) life of young Danish (high)school-children around 1930, it also changed the agenda of discourse in professional and academic circles engaged in music. Students, composers and performers caught interest in this new genre of music, and in Denmark this interest manifested itself in attempts to integrate jazz in the musical education of the youth. A unique genre, the so-called ‘jazz oratorios’, was created by the composer Bernhard Christensen (1906-2004) and the librettist Sven Møller Kristensen (1909- 91), and endeavors to establish courses in jazz in the public educational system were made by Bernhard Christensen and others as early as 1934. The term ‘jazz’ was avoided and the Danish term ‘rytmisk musik’ (‘rhythmic music’) was invented to emphasize the didactically qualified educational content of the activity and to avoid what was associated with jazz, especially by its opponents. The article aims at taking stock of the situation in Danish music education during the last decade and at specifying the situation of ‘rhythmic music’ within this context.Keywords: Music education. Danish music. JazzEducação musical dinamarquesa e o conceito da ‘música rítmica’: alguns aspectosResumo: A música tem feito parte do currículo das escolas dinamarquesas do fundamental ao secundário em todos os níveis. A ideia de que tanto indivíduos como a cultura em geral se beneficiam de assuntos artísticos, atividades criativas etc., tem sido amplamente aceita. Esta motivação foi suficiente para manter a música como disciplina integrante do sistema educacional desde aproximadamente 1960 até 2000.  Esta tradição se iniciou na década de 1920, quando o primeiro governo social democrata da história da Dinamarca (1924-26), com Nina Bang como ministra da educação (provavelmente a primeira mulher ministra do mundo), determinou um direcionamento no campo da música com conceitos inovadores baseados em: 1) ‘folkelig’ ou ‘folksy’ (folclórico) (termo associado ao movimento das escolas secundárias populares e, musicalmente falando, com compositores como Carl Nielsen e Thomas Laub) e 2) no estabelecimento da música como uma disciplina da universidade, com base nos paradigmas da musicologia europeia do início do século XX.  Por volta de 1930, o jazz entrou na vida (musical) dos alunos dinamarqueses do ensino secundário e mudou o discurso dos círculos acadêmicos profissionais e acadêmicos ligados à música.  Discentes, compositores e concertistas se interessaram por este novo gênero musical, e isto se manifestou em tentativas de integrar o jazz na educação musical dos jovens.  O chamado ‘jazz-oratorio’, um gênero único, foi criado pelo compositor Bernhard Christensen (1906-2004) e pelo libretista Sven Møller Kristensen (1909-1991).  Desde 1934 foram feitos esforços para a criação de cursos de jazz no sistema educacional público por Bernhard Christensen e outros.  O termo ‘jazz’ era evitado, e o termo dinamarquês ‘rytmisk musik’ (música rítmica) foi criado para enfatizar o conteúdo educativo e pedagógico. O intuito era também evitar que a ideia fosse associada com o jazz, especialmente pelos oponentes.  O artigo pretende avaliar a situação da educação musical dinamarquesa durante a última década, e mais especificamente a situação da ‘música rítmica’ neste contexto.Palavras-chave: Educação musical. Música dinamarquesa. Jazz Educación musical danesa y el concepto de 'música rítmica': algunos aspectosResumen: La música ha sido parte del plan de estudios de las escuelas danesas desde la primaria hasta la secundaria en todos los niveles. La idea de que tanto individuos como la cultura en general se benefician de las cuestiones artísticas, actividades creativas, etc., ha sido ampliamente aceptada. Esta motivación era suficiente para mantener a la música como disciplina del sistema educativo desde aproximadamente 1960 hasta 2000. Esta tradición comenzó en la década de 1920, cuando el primer gobierno social demócrata en la historia de Dinamarca (1924-1926), con Nina Bang como Ministra de Educación (probablemente la primera ministra mujer en el mundo), estableció una dirección en el campo de la música con conceptos innovadores basados en: 1) 'folkelig' o 'folksy' (folklórico) (término asociado con el movimiento de escuelas secundarias populares y, musicalmente hablando, con compositores como Carl Nielsen y Thomas Laub) y 2) el establecimiento de la música como una disciplina de la universidad, con base en los paradigmas de la musicología europea de inicios del siglo XX. Cerca de 1930, el jazz entró en la vida (musical) de los estudiantes daneses de la escuela secundaria y cambió el discurso de los círculos profesionales y académicos  relacionados a la música. Alumnos, compositores e instrumentistas se interesaron por este nuevo género musical, y esto se manifiestó en intentos de integrar el jazz a la educación musical de los jóvenes. El llamado 'jazz-oratorio', un género único, fue creado por el compositor Bernhard Christensen (1906-2004) y el libretista Sven Møller Kristensen (1909-1991). Desde 1934 se han realizado esfuerzos para crear cursos de jazz en el sistema de educación pública, por Bernhard Christensen y otros. Se evitó el término 'jazz' y se creó el nombre 'rytmisk musik' (música rítmica, en danés) para destacar el contenido educativo y pedagógico. El objetivo era también evitar que la idea fuese asociada con el jazz, sobre todo por sus opositores. El artículo pretende evaluar la situación de la educación musical de Dinamarca durante la última década y, más específicamente, la situación de la 'música rítmica' en este contexto.Palabras clave: Educación musical. Música danesa. Jaz

Rhythmic Music in Danish Music Education

In Danish state schools from elementary to upper secondary school music is part of curricula at all levels. It is widely accepted that both individuals and culture benefit from art subjects, creative activities etc. This type of motivation was sufficient support for maintaining music as a subject at all levels of the educational system from around 1960 to around 2000. This tradition dates back to the 1920s, when the first Social Democratic government in Danish history (1924-26), with Nina Bang as minister of education (probably the first female minister worldwide), in the field of music made an alliance with innovative concepts of music as a subject rooted in 1) “folkelig” music (a term associated with the Danish Folk High Scool movement and musically with composers as Carl Nielsen, Thomas Laub and others) and in 2) the establishing of music as a university subject founded on up-to-date paradigms in European musicology in the early part of the 20th century. When jazz entered the (musical) life of young Danish (high)school-children around 1930, it also changed the agenda of discourse in professional and academic circles engaged in music. Students, composers and performers caught interest in this new genre of music, and in Denmark this interest manifested itself in attempts to integrate jazz in the musical education of the youth. A unique genre, the so-called ‘jazz oratorios’, was created by the composer Bernhard Christensen (1906-2004) and the librettist Sven Møller Kristensen (1909- 91), and endeavors to establish courses in jazz in the public educational system were made by Bernhard Christensen and others as early as 1934. The term ‘jazz’ was avoided and the Danish term ‘rytmisk musik’ (‘rhythmic music’) was invented to emphasize the didactically qualified educational content of the activity and to avoid what was associated with jazz, especially by its opponents. This paper aims at taking stock of the situation in Danish music education during the last decade and at specifying the situation of ‘rhythmic music’ within this context

Poverty Risk among Older Immigrants in a Scandinavian Welfare State

Focus in the paper is on poverty among immigrants and refugees 50 years and older coming to Denmark from countries outside the OECD, with main emphasis on immigrants coming as guest workers before 1974, as refugees and as family members and marriage partners – tied movers – relative to individuals coming as guest workers and as refugees. A major share of people in this group were fairly young at arrival to Denmark. Those arriving back in the 1970s and 1980s are now either close to or above the age of 60, with conditional eligibility to a labor market related early retirement program or the age 65 where you become eligible for State pension. Poverty rates by national background are described using alternative household concepts. Next, a number of background factors of relevance for poverty are summarized. We focus on age, gender, marital status, occupational status at age 55 and duration of residence. We find major differences between migrant groups and between migrants and natives regarding how income is composed at different ages on market income, pensions and benefits. Next, we present a number of regressions aiming at explaining differences in the poverty risk with differences in a number of background factors

A Tale of Two Countries: Poverty among Immigrants in Denmark and Sweden since 1984

poverty, immigrants, panel data

Pathways to early retirement in Denmark, 1984 - 2000

This paper describes and analyses the pathways to early retirement in Denmark. The analyses are based on a 10 per cent panel sample of the population 45-66 years old followed from 1984 onwards. We use a multinomial logit approach to analyse the characteristics of individuals that retire through each pathway compared to those remaining in the labour force. The transition from work to retirement is complex and far from the conventional idea of exit typically occurring from a job at the official pension age. Eight pathways from work to an early retirement program are identified. One group of pathways is transitions directly from employment corresponding to 75 per cent of all transitions in the sample period. The great majority of these transitions occur to an early retirement program. A second group consists of pathways dominated by unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) covering 20 per cent. The remaining 5 per cent of the transitions occur through pathways dominated by benefit programs reflecting a low attachment to the labour force in the period prior to retirement. Overall, availability and/or generosity of retirement programs are important for early retirement through the employment and UIB dominated pathways. For early retirement through other pathways, however, personal characteristics seem to be at least as important as retirement programs