Journal of European Social Policy

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Continuity and consensus: governing families in Denmark

Peter Abrahamson
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20: 399
DOI: 10.1177/0958928710380478

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 Article

Continuity and consensus: governing families in Denmark

Peter Abrahamson*
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Summary In Danish family policy, changes initiated by the present conservative-liberal government
differ little from those proposed by the opposition. Recent changes are minor, but significant ones
occurred in the 1960s, when childcare was universalized, and in the 1980s, when parental leave
substituted maternal leave. These changes can be explained as adjustments to post-industrial condi-
tions within a political culture relying on class compromises and a broad consensus informed by
expert advice coming from civil servants and ad hoc policy commissions. The paper concludes that
changes in Danish family policy reflect changing conditions for employment and the minding of
children and that there has been a high degree of continuity and consensus about the change, as
indicated by the strong increase in female labour market involvement.

Keywords balancing family life and work, Denmark, family policy, parental leave, social rights

In a gender perspective, womens right to work
combined with public services may be the most
dominant feature of the Nordic welfare policies.
(Christiansen and Markkola, 2006: 24)
Since the oil price shocks of the 1970s, welfare state
changes have been subject to considerable debate.
Many observers have pointed to a deterioration of
social rights, while others have insisted that many
welfare states have proven resilient to change. In the
Danish case different tendencies have been apparent
for different sectors: pensions have seen a strengthen-
ing of the contributory element and a weakening of the
universal tax-financed element; access to early retire-
ment has been made more difficult; with regard to
unemployment, insurance and social assistance entitle-
ments have been reduced and the punitive element in
activation has been increased. This is not so for family
policy, where entitlements have been continued and
strengthened: coverage of public day-care, for instance,
has been expanded and there is now a childcare guar-
antee in all municipalities, leading to 90 per cent
coverage of the one- to two-year-olds, the highest
*Author to whom correspondence should be sent: Peter Abrahamson, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen,
ster Farimagsgade 5, P O Box 2099, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark. [email:pa@soc.ku.dk"pa@soc.ku.dk]
among the Scandinavian countries and probably
unmatched elsewhere. Children have also been granted
more rights, and resources allocated to family policy in
Denmark have long been on the increase, a trend that
apparently continues. The purpose of this article is to
explain this seemingly paradoxical pattern: that family
policy has been consolidated and expanded within the
context of the Scandinavian welfare model, while
other areas have been liberalized. The emphasis is on
demonstrating and explaining continuity and change
in Danish family policy.
Family policy is an important element of welfare
policy, particularly in the Scandinavian context. In the
varieties of capitalism literature Denmark and the rest
of Scandinavia are understood as coordinated market
economies (Hall and Soskice, 2001; Campbell et al.,
2006), and in the welfare regime literature Denmark
belongs to the Scandinavian model (Kautto and Kvist,
2002). The Scandinavian societies are characterized as
being interventionist and providing universal, tax-
financed transfers and personal social services, but
what has been less emphasized in the literature is that
the Scandinavian model is premised upon a very high

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400 Abrahamson
degree of employment in the formal labour market for
most generations and for both sexes. Family policies
enabling citizens to reconcile work and family life are
cornerstones of this premise. Danish family policy has
undergone profound changes from early modernity to
late modernity, but it has remained remarkably con-
stant since developing its Scandinavian model charac-
teristics of being publicly regulated, provided and
financed, universal, and based on social pedagogical
principles (Borchorst, 2009) more than 40 years ago.
Therefore, we define family policy as public regula-
tion of, and intervention in, the reconciliation of work
and family life with particular reference to childrens
living conditions, both quantitatively (their numbers)
and qualitatively (their well-being). The lack of an
institutionalized family policy in Denmark in the
format of a Ministry of Family Affairs (apart from a
short period in the 1960s and also more recently)
should not be taken as proof of its non-existence.
We argue that the continuation and expansion of
family policy is guided by the same logic, a concern for
sufficiently available labour that dictates retrenchment
of early retirement, pension, unemployment insurance
and social assistance. Work, in the sense of formal
employment, has long been the focus of attention. This
overall logic accounts for expanding family policies
that mobilize fathers and mothers to stay employed,
while also indicating restrictions to exit options, such
as early retirement and unemployment benefits. Some
observers of the Danish welfare state have suggested
that Danes are blessed with a passion for equality
(Andersen, 1984); we prefer to stress that Danish gov-
ernments and policy advisors are obsessed with work
incentives and high rates of employment and fertility.
The consensual character of the Scandinavian political
culture elucidates the high degree of continuity within
Danish family policy, while adjustments to post-indus-
trial conditions explain significant family policy
changes. Furthermore, both continuity and change are
accounted for by the fact that family policy underpins
the strong work orientation of the Scandinavian
model. The Danish case is obviously interesting in an
international and comparative context because of its
success with respect to high rates of female employ-
ment and a relatively high fertility rate, rendering the
demographic pressure on Danish society considerably
lower than in most of the other developed countries.
The paper proceeds as follows. To set the stage for
the discussion of family policy, a historical overview is
provided in the following section. It is demonstrated
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
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that family policy has evolved through two qualita-
tively different phases, the first one being character-
ized by the important role of charities and limited
public responsibility, the second one featuring all ele-
ments of the fully developed universal type. The next
section then highlights most recent developments in
Danish family policy with the aim of demonstrating
the strong degree of continuity and focus on work and
children. As will be shown, there is little difference
between changes initiated by the present conservative-
liberal government and those proposed by the opposi-
tion, pointing to the overall consensual approach to
family policy. Changes are explained as adjustments
to post-industrial conditions within a particular polit-
ical culture relying on class compromises and a broad
consensus informed by expert advice coming from
civil servants and ad hoc policy commissions. The
paper concludes that changes in family policy in
Denmark reflect varying conditions for employment
and the minding of children, and that there has been
a high degree of continuity and consensus since the
significant changes induced by the strong increase in
female labour market involvement which occurred
from the 1960s onwards. Thus, family policies add
considerably to the productivist character of the
Danish welfare state.
Continuity and change in Danish family
policy: a historical framework
Since early industrialization, if not before, there has
been a pronounced concern about the well-being of
children in Scandinavia, and various forms of legisla-
tion have interfered in the private life of families. The
focus here is on policies concerned with the well-being
of children, including day-care, and on parental leave
schemes. Historians agree that family policy has
developed through four distinct stages (Christiansen
and Markkola, 2006): the first period stretches from
the 1870s until after the First World War and is char-
acterized by Poor Law legislation and philanthropy.
Inger Elisabeth Haavet found that children have been
a popular target for welfare policy and philanthropy
since the 1880s, and while the Absolutist state during
Mercantilism had occupied itself with the quantity of
the population, the quality of the population was
more at the centre of the discourse at the end of the
19th century (2006: 195, 196). There was strong
concern about infant mortality especially among
illegitimate children, who died in disproportionate
 Governing families in Denmark
numbers because of a lack of mothers milk and ade-
quate hygienic conditions during the first critical
months. The states role was to enforce a solution
within the private sphere by making both parents
responsible for providing for their children (Haavet,
2006: 195). Regarding Denmark, Haavet held:
The effort was primarily addressing the cruel
destinies of foster children, and the alliance
between the medical profession and the philan-
thropic organizations, with a strong female par-
ticipation, contributed to improved hygienic and
social conditions for many mothers and chil-
dren. For instance the Organization of Foster
Mothers (Premieforeningen for Plejemdre)
was established in Copenhagen and gradually
the Medical Childcare Programme (Det medi
cinske Brneplejeprogram) achieved major
authority. (Haavet, 2006: 196)
Likewise, in the area of childcare Denmark saw the
establishment of Frbel Kindergartens from 1870,
which later developed into Peoples Kindergartens from
1901. They gradually replaced the old asylums that had
been established during the first part of the nineteenth
century. While the asylums emphasized discipline and
order, the kindergartens had a strong pedagogical
dimension and integrated care and educational objec-
tives (Borchorst, 2002). 1901 was also the year that
saw the first act on maternity leave: all women working
in factories with more than five employees had the right
to four weeks of (unpaid) leave after having given birth
(Hansen, 2003: 1). During this initial period the foun-
dation for what later developed into the Danish welfare
state was laid (Nrgaard, 2000).
During the subsequent period from 1919 until the
1950s, the state assumed more direct responsibility
for families and childrens welfare, resulting in the
adoption of family allowances in all Nordic countries
by the 1940s (Haavet, 2006: 207). With respect to
childcare, Annette Borchorst labels this period insti-
tutionalization of a residual policy (2002) and dates
it to the Social Reform of the 1930s: the state could
now fund the Peoples Kindergartens with 50 per cent
of total expenditure; the states obligations gradually
increased with amended legislation in 1945 and 1951
when the Parliament unanimously decided that
municipalities were obliged to support the running of
childcare facilities (Borchorst, 2002: 9). The driving
forces were people arguing in the tradition of Frbel
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401
and Montessori. Together with Social Democrats
they put the childcare issue on the political agenda,
yet the proposals received support from all political
parties. Regarding the 1919 legislation Borchorst
wrote: It is remarkable for the time that all the polit-
ical parties in the two chambers of parliament voted
for the proposal (2009: 10). This consensual
approach has since proven to be a hallmark of Danish
family policy. With the 1933 Social Reform, mater-
nity leave was also improved both in length, being
extended to a period of six weeks from the date of
birth, and in coverage: women working in factories,
members of a sickness fund and those without
support were now eligible (Hansen, 2003: 2).
During the so-called golden years of the welfare
state a course-shifting reform of family policy took
place with the universalization of childcare policy.
Borchorst (2002, 2009) views the 1964 reform of child-
care as decisive, highlighting three major principles: a)
the relatively high public commitment to providing,
organizing and financing childcare for children below
school age; b) universalism as the central criterion of the
policies; and c) social pedagogical objectives of the serv-
ices. More generally, family policy had changed from
restoring the home with a stay-at-home mother as a
sort of safety net, to providing the two-earner family
with a supportive infrastructure (Haavet, 2006: 209).
The shift also indicated a changing role of women as
mothers and workers: The 1960s witnessed a shift in
both discourse and political praxis towards a new ideal
of gender neutrality (Melby et al., 2008: 9). Hence,
maternity leave was again expanded, both in length and
coverage, in 1960. By then all female employees had a
right to 14 weeks of paid leave (Hansen, 2003: 3).
Historians single out a fourth period of welfare
state development in Scandinavia, one of new chal-
lenges, which began in the 1970s (Christiansen and
Markkola, 2006). These challenges are often associ-
ated with a turn towards globalization and post-
industrialism. Regarding childcare policy, this period
indicates significant changes as an adjustment to
what demographers have labelled the second demo-
graphic turn: a decrease in marriages and childbirths
and concomitant increase in cohabitation, divorces,
single parenthood and out-of-wedlock births, an
increase in commuting and female employment, and
so on. This coincided with a shift towards a post-
industrial society first evident in Scandinavia to
which, according to Giuliano Bonoli (2007: 504),
only the Nordic countries have adapted their welfare
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
402 Abrahamson
states. Among the new social risks emerging with
post industrialization, he mentions, as one among
many, the inability to reconcile work and family life
(2007: 495). As Torben Iversen and John Stephens
write (2008: 61011): Indeed, the main area of
welfare state innovation in all four Nordic countries
in the 1970s and 1980s was in policies enabling
women to enter the labour force, not only through
providing services such as day-care but also through
transfers, such as paid parental leave.
In the Danish case such innovation was reflected
in the gradual implementation of suggestions made
by the so-called Child Welfare Commission which
sat from 1975 to 1980 and which published its
concluding report and recommendations in 1981
(Brnekommissionen, 1981). Its objective was to reflect
upon the above-mentioned societal changes, examine
the conditions for children of pre-school age, and
discuss whether the conditions are adequate in view of
the needs of the children, the families and the society.
In particular, it was to look into family policy measures,
housing and environment conditions, day-care insti-
tutions and day-care services in private homes, and
early efforts to ensure a healthy physical, emotional
and social development (Brnekommissionen, 1981:
2856). Three aspects were especially important: a
genuine concern for the well-being of children in a
post-industrial setting where parents have problems
reconciling work and family life; recognition of the
responsibility for childrens welfare as lying not only
with the parents, but as one shared among parents, the
state and the social partners of the labour market
through their negotiated agreements; and an emphasis
on involving fathers more in the lives of their small chil-
dren. This latter point was reflected in the subsequent
change in 1984 when parental leave was introduced,
allowing fathers 2 weeks of paternal leave and 6 of 20
weeks to be shared between the parents (Hansen, 2003:
4). The emphasis on the fathers roles was also reflected
in the recommendation that all children have the right
to two parents, even if they only live with one of them.
It was later enacted as the possibility of joint custody
after divorce or separation, and the obligation of single
women to name the father of their child.
Melby et al. (2008: 8) summarize the long-time
changes in Danish family policy:
The overall concern of the legislature seems to
have been to secure families self-provision, in the
first half of the 20th century, complemented by
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
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the national interest in the size and the quality of
the population, in the final part of the century
directed by a focus on productivity and economic
growth as a precondition for welfare.
What is emphasized here is the productivist dimen-
sion which developed during the latter two periods
of welfare state development. As is demonstrated in
the next section, the combination of a concern for
the well-being of children and how their parents can
reconcile work and family life has been maintained
during the 2000s.
Furthermore, changes have been remarkably con-
sensual as decisions were unanimous among the differ-
ent political parties bringing Denmark in line with the
other Scandinavian countries in which all major
welfare reforms have been passed by broad parliamen-
tary majorities (Christiansen and mark, 2006: 352).
Developments in Danish family policy
during the 2000s
The Conservative government ratified the most recent
changes to parental leave legislation in 2002, which
expanded the leave period to 52 weeks after birth, of
which 32 weeks can be shared between the parents
(Hansen, 2003: 5). In 1997, the former Social
Democratic-led government had enacted a two-week
daddy quota (effective from April 1998). The 2002
bill, however, did not entail so-called use or lose
days, as the opposition (by then the Left) would have
liked. Instead, it abolished rules that reserved part of
the leave for the other parent, although such rules
have proven a strong incentive for fathers to care for
their babies, as demonstrated by the developments in
the other Nordic countries (NOSOSKO, 2009: 35). In
this respect, recent Danish family policy change has
deviated significantly from that of its sister nations,
and it is a rare example of a change to family policy in
Denmark not being built upon a broad parliamentary
consensus. The bill was narrowly enacted by the
minority government parties and by parliamentary
support from the Peoples Party; but this change may
be seen as the exception that proves the rule.
Since 2005 Danish family policy has been guided
by a so-called Family Policy Statement published in
November 2005 (Ministry of Family and Consumer
Affairs, 2005). In the statement, the government
began by defining its understanding of the concept
of family and presented a broad definition:
 Governing families in Denmark
The family is not an unambiguous thing. The tradi-
tional nuclear family with mother, father and two
children is widespread. But families also include
singles, without or with children with whom they
live under one roof at all times or some of the time,
and who have a family consisting of parents, siblings,
grandparents and cousins. There are many compos-
ite families [mine, yours and our children]. And the
family now also includes the many homosexual
couples that have formed registered partnerships.
(Ministeriet for Forbruger- og Familieanliggender
[Ministry of Family and Consumption Affairs],
2005: 4; authors translation)
This is a rather liberal definition coming from a
Conservative government. In a 2006 article the Minister
for Family and Consumer Affairs explained why it is
important for the government to put the family on the
political agenda: families are a precondition for society,
because without families, there are no children, and
without children, no continuation of society. Children
are our future, it is further stated, employing an invest-
ment perspective on families and an understanding of
the Danish welfare society as one built upon very high
employment rates, including those of mothers: We live
in a world of constant change and globalization. If we
still want a society of well-being and growth, it is neces-
sary for families to partake in Danish working life
(Barfoed, 2006: 11; authors translation). Thus, the
governments family policy should facilitate families
balancing of work and family life. Again, the produc-
tivist element is emphasized.
Despite extensive public investment in measures
aimed at reconciling the differing demands of
work and family life, life is not easy, a fact the
government has recognized, and in 2005 it estab-
lished the so-called Family and Working Life
Commission, which published its report in May
2007. Its objective was to identify and analyse
problems of work and family life balance, and,
based on that, put forward recommendations that
would lead to more flexible societal conditions
(Familie- og Arbejdslivskommissionen, 2007: 7).
When paid work and housework is added up,
Danish men work a little more than Danish women, at
51 and 48 hours per week, respectively, but this
obscures the fact that women perform more house-
work and men perform more work for pay. This is the
pattern found everywhere. But what is unique about
the Danish (Scandinavian) situation is the extent to
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403
which women work in the formal labour market, and
that to which men undertake housework. Hence,
Danish men with children under the age of seven spend
more time on housework than their counterparts in, for
example, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, France,
England or Hungary (Laustsen and Sjrup, 2003).
The Family and Working Life Commission enti-
tled its report Chance for a Balance: A Common
Responsibility, which very accurately reflects
current Danish family policy. But it also echoes the
opinion expressed by the Child Welfare Commission
back in 1981, thus demonstrating the high degree of
continuity since then (Brnekommissionen, 1981).
Introducing its recommendations, the Commission
stated that families with young children have the
most problems balancing work and family life, espe-
cially if the children are under the age of seven, or if
the parent is a lone parent. If conditions are to be
improved, it will take active efforts on behalf of
various actors to do so. First, families themselves
will have to focus on the problem; second, work-
places must take more co-responsibility for striking
a good balance; third, the social partners have to
increase their commitment, for example by integrat-
ing workfamily life balance measures into collec-
tive agreements; fourth, society (read: the state)
must create a framework which supports a good
balance between work and family life (Familie- og
Arbejdslivskommissionen, 2007: 8).
The Commission recommended focusing on the
following five dimensions: 1) children and their well-
being, which could include more paid days off work
to care for sick children and healthy meals in all nurs-
eries, kindergartens and schools; 2) family-friendly
workplaces, which would entail increased flexibility;
3) freedom of family life, which would indicate that a
framework existed guaranteeing that people could
have their desired number of children; this would also
include better conditions for fathers taking parental
leave; 4) flexible services, which basically means
more flexible opening hours in public day-care insti-
tutions; 5) balance throughout life, which implied the
possibility of changes between longer and shorter
workdays over the life course, as well as periods off
work, compensated for by working more during
other periods, hence better access to shifting between
part and full time and flexi accounts (time account
models) (Familie- og Arbejdslivskommissionen,
2007: 911; for a comparative perspective see
Abrahamson et al., 2005; Abrahamson, 2007).
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
404 Abrahamson
As a follow-up to the Commission report the Ministry
published a document to initiate discussions over family
policy. It was entitled Debating Modern Family Policy
(Ministeriet for Forbruger- og Familieanliggender,
2007). Besides mentioning the main findings and some
of the recommendations of the Commission, the docu-
ment explained what initiatives the government had
already taken up to that point in time: wage earners
have obtained the right to absence from work to care
for relatives with a disability, serious illness or terminal
disease; rules for caring for sick children have been
improved, so that parents are eligible for sickness ben-
efits when a child under the age of 18 is sick for at least
12 days; the municipalities have been given the oppor-
tunity to financially support an experimental scheme
called spare grandparents (rent a grandparent) to care
for a sick child; obligatory redistribution of expenses
related to parental leave in the private sector; an experi-
mental scheme concerned with counseling aimed at
couples considering separation or divorce; an experi-
mental scheme offering counseling to couples who have
adopted a child; and counseling services to parents in
dispute over custody (Ministeriet for Forbruger- og
Familieanliggender, 2007: 12). This list of recent
changes confirms the productivist orientation of Danish
family policy; nearly all the changes are concerned with
work and reconciliation of work and family life.
The 2007 document furthermore declared forth-
coming governments family policy initiatives. The
government announced that it would abolish the
occasional closing of day-care institutions on regular
weekdays, which up to now caused problems for
many parents. It also promised the overhaul of run-
down facilities and the promotion of healthy diets in
all institutions, which has now been enacted. All
three-year-olds will be offered a language test, and
there would be more flexibility available for com-
bining the use of kindergarten and private care in
the home, for example. Finally, the government
seeks to improve recruitment of pre-school teachers
and improve the quality of services delivered by
improving leadership and establishing a permanent
framework for evaluations (Ministeriet for Forbruger-
og Familieanliggender, 2007: 1417).
In a document published in 2007, the opposition
(the Social Democrats) suggested 25 tangible changes
to Danish family policy (Socialdemokraterne, 2007).
They are grouped within four thematic areas. The first
is childcare and includes the proposal of a ceiling to
the amount payable in monthly charges (set at DKK
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
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1000 per month), as well as the recommendation that
the childcare guarantee be upgraded from the current
provision for all children aged over one year, to those
aged over six months; a further proposal is that the
rebate for siblings should be extended to include fees
for after-school clubs, and the right to care for sick
children should kick in after 5 days instead of after 12,
as suggested by the government. The second theme
concerns elementary school. Here, the suggestions
are very much in line with what the government has
generally recommended, namely allocating more
resources for the up-keep of buildings and improving
teachers qualifications. The third theme, also identi-
fied by the government, concerns at-risk children;
most initiatives (10 out of 25) proposed by the Social
Democrats address this area. They demand more
resources allocated to tackling the problem of chil-
dren at risk, better qualified pre-schoolteachers, and
crisis counselling (parallel to that which the govern-
ment has already proposed). Furthermore, it suggests
focusing more intensively on helping (children of)
drug addicts and, in line with the governments sug-
gestion, making it obligatory for all municipalities to
establish a so-called SSP-collaboration (School
Social Welfare Department Police cooperation). The
last theme is health and culture, where the main sug-
gestions concern greater involvement on the part of
the voluntary sector, and making healthy food for
children available in kindergartens and schools
(Socialdemokraterne, 2007). Thus, it can safely be
concluded that there is little difference between the
oppositions family policy and that of the government.
The most recent change in family policy in Denmark
was an indirect consequence of the governments
attempt to contain the crisis which hit Denmark in
2008. One element in this was to transfer resources to
the municipalities enabling them to increase construc-
tion and maintenance of institutions labelled close to
citizens, such as care institutions for children, for the
disabled and the elderly, and schools (Ministry of the
Interior and Social Affairs, 2009: 1). In this case it was
concern about unemployment among construction
workers, those hardest hit by the crisis, which ultimately
led to an improvement in family policy provisions.
During the 2000s changes in Danish family policy
have generally been minor improvements: for
example, an expansion of the length of parental
leave and of the number of day-care places; better
counseling opportunities; healthy and nutritious food
in kindergartens and schools, as noted above; and
 Governing families in Denmark
most of these underscore the productivist character of
family policy. Or, considering childcare, in the words
of Borchorst: The bottom line is, however, that the
key characteristics of the Danish childcare model
remain unchallenged (2009: 20). Yet, other elements
of welfare policy in Denmark have undergone signifi-
cant changes. Since the 1990s, pension generosity has
changed considerably for many people, shifting from
complete reliance on the universal old-age pension to
contributory occupational pensions. The active turn
in labour market and social policy, which has come
about gradually since 1979 and been strengthened
since the mid-1990s, has fundamentally changed the
logics of unemployment insurance and social assist-
ance: a shift away from income replacement in bad
times and a macroeconomic perspective where the
unemployed person was considered a victim of the
business cycle, toward activation, whose aim it is to
engineer the skills of the unemployed in order to
make them employable. The new perspective is micro-
economic: unemployed individuals are now seen as
unfit to meet present labour market needs and are
unemployed due to insufficient qualifications, lack of
motivation, and so on (Abrahamson, 2006).
Recent changes to social assistance legislation
have also taken an active turn, substantially reduc-
ing aid for immigrants and refugees, in particular,
whose culture of everyday life diverges from that of
the post-industrial dual-earner family. These fami-
lies have been punished, so to speak, for not having
gone post-industrial (Abrahamson, 2006).
Explaining family policy
From an early stage, politicians and experts have been
concerned about the health of the population and
declining birth rates. Recently, all expert advice in
Denmark has revolved around a potential shortage
of labour (Arbejdsmarkedskommissionen, 2007,
2009; Familie- og Arbejdslivskommissionen, 2007;
Velfrdskommissionen, 2005). Proposals for family
policy reform also point to ways of increasing employ-
ment. Family policy apparently continues to be pro-
ductivist, and by being productivist it most profoundly
supports the particular Scandinavian model of
welfare, namely the high degree of especially female
employment in the formal labour market.
As is clear from the historical overview of family
policy, two developments need to be explained. On
the one hand there is a strong degree of continuity
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405
of family policy in Scandinavia, including Denmark.
It is characterized by a longstanding concern with
ensuring a healthy population, in particular healthy
children, and a high degree of employment. On the
other hand, there is a decisive break with the devel-
opment of childcare and tax policies during the
1960s, indicating a shift in focus away from pro-
moting self-reliance of families toward productivity
and economic growth. During the 1980s another
crucial shift took place regarding the rights of children
and the role of fathers in care. Both changes reflect
an adjustment to conditions of post-industrialism,
particularly dual earning, and to a lesser extent an
adaptation to the increase in single parenthood. But
they also resulted from an increasing pressure exer-
cised by the womens movement and the concomitant
concern with gender equality.
As said, being concerned about the health and repro-
duction of the population is a longstanding tradition in
Scandinavia, perhaps most famously expressed by Alva
and Gunnar Myrdal in Sweden in the inter-war years
with the publication of the book Crisis in the Population
Question in 1934. This book triggered the setting-up in
1935 of the so-called Population Commission, in a
development similar to that which had taken place in
Sweden (Befolkningskommissionen, 1936, 1937,
1938). The Commission published three reports on
issues such as kindergartens, housing allowances to
families with many children and the rights of mothers
regarding childbirth and sex education (Caspersen,
1985). In an article on the Danish labour movements
policies towards reconciliation of work and family life,
Anette Eklund Hansen and Klaus Petersen (2000: 50;
authors translation) state: The family policy reflec-
tions that they [representatives of the labour move-
ment] promoted were strongly inspired by the work of
the Population Commission from the 1930s. The
explanation offered for promoting family policies high-
lights pressure exerted by the womens movement both
within the Social Democratic Party and outside and by
women within the trade union movement, reflecting a
change in socioeconomic conditions:
Since the inter-war period there has been an increase
in employed women, in particular among married
women. Therefore, both trade union women and
party women demanded changes that would help
them in their everyday life: kindergartens, mater-
nity leave, housewife substitutes, etc. (Hansen and
Petersen, 2000: 50; authors translation)
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
406 Abrahamson
But they did so within a political culture character-
ized by class compromise and class coalitions. Peter
Baldwin (1990) demonstrated that the middle
classes and the Conservative and Liberal parties
played an important role throughout the long period
of building up the Scandinavian welfare societies,
not least in Denmark. Particularly so-called red
green alliances, that is, compromises between Social
Democrats and the bourgeois parties, were impor-
tant for welfare state development. Niels Finn
Christiansen and Pirjo Markkola (2006: 1718)
support this view: The road to social reforms was
prepared not only by broad popular support, but
also by big class compromises, involving in particu-
lar the working class, the farmers and, at times, also
the capitalist bourgeoisie.
Yet another important explanation here is the
late industrializer hypothesis. In general, late indus-
trializers have tended to be economically interven-
tionist, creating public social policy programmes at
a rather early stage in their own development, as
Christopher Pierson showed (2004). He also noted
that welfare state programmes are introduced in a
similar order in many countries. Everywhere family
allowances and family policy come last. Hence, a
developed set of family policies can be seen as a hall-
mark of an advanced welfare state, and that fits
Scandinavia and Denmark perfectly. Furthermore,
being a late industrializer meant being influenced by
agrarian forms and norms, and in the Danish case
these were particular because of the absence of huge
estates (Kuhnle and Hort, 2004). It should be
recalled that the Nordic countries were extensively
agrarian throughout the welfare states break-
through period until the 1930s, as Eero Carroll and
Joakim Palme reminded us (2006: 18). It is, of
course, not self-evident why agrarian forms of coop-
eration lead to consensus and compromise. The
point is that Denmark was a particularly agrarian
society when welfare policies emerged. It was based
on small landholders in a somewhat hostile climate
that forced the farmers to cooperate, which is evi-
denced by the large number of collaborative organi-
zations run as co-operatives such as slaughterhouses,
dairies, harvesting machinery, and so on.
As already touched upon, Danish public policies,
including policies for families, are framed within a
particular political culture, one which had devel-
oped from agrarian forms and norms of coopera-
tion. This culture is characterized by a high degree
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
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of willingness to make compromises, a strong com-
mitment to consensus-seeking and a non-militant
process of deliberation, and a strong reliance on
and trust in expert advice from civil servants and ad
hoc policy commissions. The focus is on Denmark
here, but some general developments common to
Scandinavia as a whole are obviously also true for
Denmark. Since 1919 Scandinavian governments
have coordinated social policy legislation, a prac-
tice continued under the auspices of the Nordic
Council of Ministers (Petersen, 2006). Therefore, it
is no coincidence that family laws, for example,
display a considerable degree of similarity through-
out Scandinavia.
Hence when considering Scandinavia as a whole,
Anna-Birte Ravn and Bente Rosenbeck (2008: 25)
concluded that instead of subscribing to the relative
strength of Social Democracy, it might be more rel-
evant to talk about a specific Nordic political culture
characterized by negotiation and compromise
between political parties representing major groups,
including womens organizations. This conclusion
also supports the assumption of a particular political
culture in Denmark. Its precondition might be a high
degree of homogeneity in society, a further hallmark
of Denmark. The Nordic countries were relatively
homogenous in terms of ethnicity and religion: For
many years, the Lutheran version of Christianity had
a hegemonic status in all the Nordic countries
perhaps the most important explanation of the simi-
larities among the Nordic states and, in particular, of
the Nordic type(s) of welfare, it has been argued
(Christiansen and Markkola, 2006: 10). This argu-
ment is also supported by Tim Knudsen who demon-
strated that the central hallmarks of Scandinavian
(and also Danish) social policy, and thereby family
policy, namely universalism and the dominance of
local authorities, now municipalities, stem from the
clerical organization of secular functions such as
education and health care within the parishes from
the time of the Reformation and onwards (Knudsen,
2002: 5961).
Another element peculiar to Danish political
culture as shown above is the widespread use of ad
hoc policy commissions. Ravn and Rosenbeck also
pointed to this phenomenon:
The central role played by ad hoc commissions is a
specific feature of Nordic policy processes. The
commissions typically included representatives of all
 Governing families in Denmark
political parties as well as interest groups, civil serv-
ants from relevant ministries, and academic experts,
and they functioned both as knowledge-producing
institutions, as instruments for policy planning
(commissions would for instance often propose new
legislation), and as an arena for consensus-building.
(Ravn and Rosenbeck, 2008: 3)
Unsurprisingly, what explains the continuity of
Danish family policy is what explains the particular
Scandinavian welfare state model: late industrializa-
tion, the importance of agrarian relations well into
the interwar period, the ethnic homogeneity of the
population and the strong dominance of Lutheranism.
All these elements have led to a peculiar political
culture based on consensus, compromise and corpo-
ration combined with a strong reliance on advice
from ad hoc policy commissions. The fact that
Danish family policies are framed within this par-
ticular political culture elucidates their consensual
and continuous character. The decisive shift in family
policy is explained as a reaction to profound changes
in socioeconomic conditions, which in the late twen-
tieth century was the development toward post-
industrialization. The productivist orientation of
Danish family policy, particularly measures for
better reconciling work and family life, result from
post-industrial adaptation, with a view to securing
sufficient availability of labour.
When explaining the other decisive course-shifting
occurrence in Danish family policy, the universali
zation of childcare from 1964, Borchorst pointed to
the interests of the dominant actors, the opportunity
structures when decisions were made and the role of
timing as an institutional factor. The key actors were
progressive pedagogues actively involved in drawing
up the 1964 Act who were supported by civil serv-
ants engaged in the same process: The political
decisions were unanimous, which also reflects that
the Danish political system during the formative
years of the welfare state was responsive to political
forces, movements and organizations in civil society
(Borchorst, 2009: 14). Borchorst is sceptical of
the simple functionalist explanation. Rather, she
contended that
the expansion of childcare provision [following
from the reform] facilitated the mass entry of
Danish women into the labour market, but the
relation was not mono causal. It is more precise to
Downloaded from esp.sagepub.com by guest on March 11, 2013
407
conclude that the processes were simultaneous
and mutually reinforcing, and the irreversibility
of the two processes are intertwined. (Borchorst,
2009: 16; see also Borchorst, 2008)
According to Monique Kremer, Danish actors
opted for the professional care strategy (2006); a
strategy strongly endorsed by the Child Welfare
Commission, which found that private minders
constituted a less satisfactory solution to childcare
(Brnekommissionen, 1981).
It has been shown that changes in Danish family
policy can be explained as adjustment and adapta-
tion to changing demographic and employment con-
ditions. So, when childrens rights were expanded,
this was an adjustment to an increase in divorce and
single parenthood support; the general improve-
ments in day-care coverage and parental leave are
adjustments to problems of reconciling work and
family life, with a view to ensuring a sufficient
number of children and their well-being. The signifi-
cant changes towards universalization of childcare,
individualization of taxation and the substitution of
maternity leave for parental leave must also partly be
explained by womens successful political mobiliza-
tion for a higher degree of gender equality.
Conclusion
The welfare state of the Nordic countries are well-
known for their family-friendly policies, enabling
both mothers and fathers to combine family with
outside employment. In terms of fertility rates,
such policies seem to have been fairly successful.
(Haavet, 2006: 189)
The trajectory of Danish family policy is one of
continuity rather than of change. This may be
explained by the progressiveness of the field in
Denmark. Having had probably the most advanced
family policy in the world, changes have basically
entailed minor improvements. Differences between
the political parties and interest groups remain small,
and the policies benefit all families. There is a long
tradition for compromise and consensus and a strong
reliance on expert advice, often coming from policy
commissions set up by the various governments.
However, family policy is less concerned with gender
equality and more concerned with labour supply,
and advice from the various commissions that have
Journal of European Social Policy 2010 20 (5)
408 Abrahamson
reported their recommendations during the 2000s
has unanimously pointed to the potential future lack
of labour supply due to demographic changes.
The main theme in current Danish family policy is
reconciling work and family life, and this is viewed
both as a public and a private responsibility, which
must involve companies, the social partners, state
and municipalities, as well as the families themselves.
The reason for this interest is to increase labour
supply by enabling both fathers and mothers to take
up formal employment. Similarly, the expansion of
parental leave can also be viewed in a productivist
perspective, because it has been shown that the right
to paid maternity leave with job-protection speeds up
the return to employment, and women who have this
right are much more likely to resume employment
(Pylkknen and Smith, 2004: 3). Hence, one major
point is that the Scandinavian model of welfare is
unsustainable without a comprehensive family policy.
Welfare policies in general and family policies in par-
ticular have adjusted to prevailing post-industrial
conditions by emphasizing productivist elements,
notably reconciliation of work and family life as a
means to secure a sufficient workforce, now and in
the future. Because the significant and radical changes
in family policy had already occurred in the 1960s
and 1980s, more recent changes have been of the
more of the same and minor improvement kind.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to extent his sincere gratitude to the
special issue editors, Margitta Mtzke and Ilona
Ostner, for their invaluable suggestions, comments and
encouragement in the process of writing this article.
The author also thanks two anonymous reviewers for
their constructive and very helpful comments on earlier
versions of this article. This work was in part sup-
ported by the National Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF) funded by a grant from the Korean government
(MEST) (No. 2009-32A-B00132).
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