Despite the government’s focused efforts, there are still no noticeable results regarding the number of young people without education or employment. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen highlighted in her New Year’s speech in 2023 that it was one of the government’s most urgent tasks to help young people under 25 who were neither in education nor employment. By the end of 2022, the number of these young people was approximately 42,000, but new figures from the Ministry of Children and Education show that by 2023, the number has risen to nearly 43,000.
Minister of Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye has responded to the new figures by promising a new government initiative after the summer holidays. “I am, of course, not satisfied with these numbers. It is very important for the government that we help the young people who are neither in education nor employment,” Tesfaye stated in a press release. He added that the government will present a series of new initiatives to support more young people, although the specific content of these initiatives has not yet been specified.
Tesfaye also points to the Preparatory Basic Education (FGU) as a possible solution for this group of young people. In November 2023, an agreement was reached to strengthen the financial situation of FGU schools, but this agreement has not yet had a positive effect on the development. The nearly 43,000 young people without education or employment represent 6.3 percent of the total group of young people between 15 and 24 years old.