A new report from the think tank Kraka has raised alarms about child poverty in Denmark. The study highlights a clear correlation between growing up in poverty and social issues such as school absenteeism, parents with mental health diagnoses, and increased reports to child welfare services. Senior economist Thomas Wilken from Kraka describes the findings as striking.

The analysis, which encompasses all children in Denmark, indicates that children living in poverty face social problems far more frequently than their peers not in poverty. A critical finding is that the rate of persistent school absenteeism among children in poverty is four times higher than that of their counterparts. This type of absenteeism is categorized as illegal when parents do not inform the school of the reason for the absence within a specified timeframe. Illegal absenteeism is thus distinct from absence due to illness.

The report also reveals that 26 percent of children in poverty have parents with psychiatric diagnoses, a figure that is double that of children not living in poverty. Reports concerning these children are three times more frequent, and five percent of the children have a parent with an unconditional prison sentence, which is five times higher than among other children.

Kraka uses Statistics Denmark’s definition of relative poverty, which includes families earning less than 50 percent of the median income and possessing low net wealth. This study is part of a three-year project on child poverty, financed by the Dreyers Fond since 2020.