According to new figures by the trade union confederation FTF, the government’s proposed cuts to municipal budgets could cost as many as 14,400 jobs in childcare and services for the elderly. Ekstra Bladet reports that this could have serious implications for these professions, both in the short and long term.

Union: children will struggle
Elisa Bergman, the head of the childhood and youth educator union BUPL, told the paper that she fears the cuts will result in under stimulated children and burned out staff.

“It means that in the long run children will have a hard time going to school and will struggle to live up to the demands that we make of them,” she said.

Henning Jørgensen, a work market researcher at Aalborg University, said that this could also result in future shortages of qualified personnel in the caring professions.

“When the childcare profession’s reputation deteriorates with worsening working conditions and cuts, young people will react to it by choosing other educations,” he said.

“So in the longer term we can expect a lower supply of childcare professionals.”

The proposed cuts to municipal budgets are being debated as part of the national budget negotiations. Socialdemokraterne have withdrawn their support for the proposal and the government is now dependent on Dansk Folkeparti to get the measure through.