Poor unemployed Danes on welfare become isolated people

A new Danish law came into function January 1. The result is that background check on the economy of partner you try to enter a relationship with is very necessary.

A Danish man or woman who is on welfare are required to be housed and fed for free by the new partner if the combined income of both persons will be higher than DKK 23,000 if there are no children.

So a young woman or man will on welfare will not be an attractive partner because the boy- or girl-friend will have to pay from day one.

I predict that Danes on welfare will have to live the rest of their lives isolated from other people. My children will only be allowed to date when I have done the necessary background check into their economy.

Also their choice of school will be interesting. If they choose business school instead of a normal high school the insurance companies have decided that their lives would be of less value. If they become victim of a crime or a traffic accident there would be almost no money for those who are left behind when they have made the choice of less attractive way of business for their future.

Sources (In Danish Language)

• Minister til Mille: Ingen kontanthjælp til dig (Metroxpress)
• 21-årig HG-elev får nedsat erstatning med 1,3 mio.: Du går jo ikke på gymnasiet (BT)

Pain

I am tormented by pain.

My teeth are hurting and that is bad.

Denmark is a welfare country. At least the politicians claim that our country still maintain that status regardless the fact that the early retirement, which was the foundation in our system have been targeted for several serious cuts.

In a welfare society vital treatment are offered for free. Regardless what kind of illness I could be having - even problems with the heart are cured for free.

But the teeth are seen as purely cosmetic treatment, so that why so many Danes like me have to suffer in silence.

You can always decide whether a Dane is rich or poor by looking at his or her teeth. In some case you can smell it. People who for one reason go bankrupt can only get help to the dentist from the authorities if they are able to prove that they have been paying customers for at least 10 years before their mishap occurred.

Danish dentists are also among the most expensive in Europe. People who have been able to bring a translator abroad to assist them explaining the problem to the foreign dentist can save up to 50 percent.

Unfortunately I don't have this option. Sweden would have been the natural choice, no sub-standard like in the Eastern Europe, where they are recovering from 50 years of communist rule. Sweden has the same standard as here in Denmark. However there is a problem. Even Swedish people are hard to understand and until recently the Danish language was forbidden.

So risking getting the wrong tooth treated is not worth it.

So like more than a million Danes I have to suffer in quietness.

It hurts a lot. Two old filling made by the an old over-the-hill school dentist who everyone knew on held that position due to his connections to the city hall are to be replaced.

A root-channel job on the right side did not turn out as my dentist anticipated. A gold crown broke off in the left side. So my pain comes from all over my mouth. I can only eat and drink very little.

That how it is for a poor Dane.

But if you ask me if it is worth having the pain just to remain in Denmark, I have to answer yes.

We have so many other things to be happy off.

My children can drink alcohol in public once they have been confirmed and they can buy it on their own, once they turn 16. If they stay together with other youth doing the same, they are not like all too many people on this planet in risk of being blown up by a suicide bomber.

My children don’t have to care about grades. There is no pressure on them if they choose to underachieve. They belong to the working class like me. We have given up battling the social heritage. The result has been a peaceful society where the lack of competition results in lesser crime and more peace.

Is that not worth if the price is severe pain every single day?

Yes: At any time!

Cheated of early retirement

I thought that I had planned my life, but now I am facing an uncertain future.

Back in the 1970 the present prime minister Anker Joergensen finished 80 years of hard work establishing the Danish welfare society by introducing early retirement for people, who have been worn down by hard labor.

So the cleaning lady or worker in factory could retire early when they became 60 years of age.

It is often claimed the introducing of early retirement both finished the welfare society in Denmark and is the compoment that keeps it together. Without early retirement there would not be basis for Denmark being called a nation with a welfare society.

I have planned my life as a hard worker on retirement at that age.

But lately the last two governments in office have found out that the cost of conducting our war in Afghanistan (Our 11th. crusade some knows as the war against terrorism) and our effort of fulfilling the Official Development Assistance have proven to be so costly.

They have to find the money somewhere and because the term of describing retired people in Denmark is "the burden of the elderly" the early retirement was targeted.

Now I like most of the people of my age would be punished if we retire before the age of 62. Hard working like it is expected of people with my background from a working class family without the possibility of a higher education, my health is already failing and I am not even 50.

Two years may seem like a little time for most, but for people with a history in the family of hearth diseases and cancer, it is forever.

My life has fallen apart. Now I live from one day to another without the ability to plan ahead. I have lost all faith in an retirement at some point.

And I am not the only one. Our nation are also under pressure. Stories about diapers being turned and used twice for number 1 in retirement homes are not uncommon. Our society is under pressure and I am thinking of finding another place to live my final years.

It is just hard.