According to figures from the national agency of modernisation, Moderniseringsstyrelsen, children of parents who work as ministers acquire over 15,000 kroner a year in a special pension fund until they reach the age of 21.
The agreement is part of a special compensation that rewards the families of civil servants for working long hours at the expense of their family lives.
But far-left support party Enhedslisten (EL), which also proposed cutting away some of the lucrative ministerial bonuses last year, finds the function ”grotesque” and may propose further cutbacks.
“The agreement is unreasonable because ministers already have a number of rewarding schemes catering to them, so I think that we could do away with the child pension scheme,” Enhedslisten spokesperson Per Clausen told Newspaq. “It’s a shame that ministers and members of parliament have a tendency to give themselves lucrative pension schemes.”
Clausen criticised the agreement last year, at which time it was defended by Margrethe Vestager (Radikale), the minister for economic and interior affairs, who maintained that rules were rules.
“That’s the way it is. You become minister and receive the reward that has been agreed upon, including the compensation, pension and children’s pension,” Vestager told Nordjyske Stiftstidende newspaper.
The current Socialdemokraterne-led government has not shown initiative to change any of the lucrative schemes that benefit the ministers and parliament members. The same was true of the previous Venstre-led regime.
The 23 incumbent ministers have a total of 34 children who qualify for the children pension agreement, racking up over 500,000 kroner a year.
Aside from the children’s pension, ministers enjoy an annual salary that ranges from roughly 1.15 million to 1.44 million kroner, as well as a generous ministerial pension. Former ministers receive a 97,214 kroner monthly compensation for the first year and a half after they leave their position. Following those 18 months, former ministers receive additional pension funds. Recently retired business minister Ole Sohn, for example, will receive an annual 86,247 kroner ministerial pension when he reaches the age of 60. When he reaches the age of 66, it will go down to 75,985 kroner a year for the remainder of his life.
