Calculations based on studies carried out in 80 Swedish councils predict that some 10 percent of Danish youths will never get a job, spend their whole working life on disabilities and cost the country's councils a net loss of 105 billion kroner – in benefits, lost revenue and the costs incurred in trying to get them back into work, reports Information.
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Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and pensions provider Skandia, the organisations behind the calculations, were anxious to point out that the Swedish study took differences between Denmark and Sweden into consideration.
An inspiration for change
The organisations said they hoped the findings would inspire Danish councils to recognise the economic potential of improving conditions via social investment plans.
“The councils needed an overview of what unemployed youth costs," Peter Holm, the head of communication at Skandia, told Information
"They are often forced to plan for one year or one budget at a time, as opposed to taking the advantages of long-term schemes into consideration.”
CBS now intends to work with Skandia to develop a tool that can calculate the socio-economic losses sustained by unemployed youth to inform Danish councils about better using their finances.
