New integration rules will leave refugees hungry, says report

Most will not be able to afford three meals a day

The integration allowance negotiated in July by Dansk Folkeparti, Liberal Alliance and Konservative for 20,000 refugee adults and children will have them living below the poverty level, unable in most cases to afford three meals a day.

That is one of the conclusions of the latest annual report from the Centre for Alternative Social Analysis (CASA).

“Social policy has increasingly become an instrument to get people into work,” Finn Kenneth Hansen from CASA told Kristeligt Dagblad. “Therefore, we must ask whether society still provides a sense of security when people are affected by something unforeseen.”

Outside the system
The report also points out that one in four refugees will not be able to buy prescription drugs, and more than half of them will not be able to afford to go to the dentist.

Hansen said that refugees were being “deprived of solid Danish social policies”.

The integration allowance is startup help given to immigrants and others who have been in Denmark for less than seven of the past eight years instead of the unemployment benefit kontanthjælp.

READ MORE: New asylum austerity measures would violate human rights

The amount is approximately the equivalent of the SU student allowance, but varies according to family size and the age of family members.




  • A country famous for lots of rain, Denmark craves for tears from the sky

    A country famous for lots of rain, Denmark craves for tears from the sky

    Two years ago, Denmark had a very dry Spring. This year, Farmers are reliving the trauma of 2023. While tourists and sun-starved Danes enjoy the sunny weather, farmers are nervously scouting for rain

  • “Ready to spend even more than 4% of the GPD” says Minister of Defense

    “Ready to spend even more than 4% of the GPD” says Minister of Defense

    At the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2025, Danish Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen stated that Denmark is willing to spend more on defense. During a conference, he said the country is ready to surpass the original target set by the European Union

  • ReDI school wins Danish Diversity Award for empowering marginalized women in tech

    ReDI school wins Danish Diversity Award for empowering marginalized women in tech

    A non-profit tech school in Denmark is recognized for helping migrant women secure jobs aligned with their qualifications through digital training and networking.

  • Danish bravery in the Nanjing Massacre

    Danish bravery in the Nanjing Massacre

    Bernhard Sindberg was a Dane who saved thousands of Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre, one of the darkest episodes of the 20th century. He is often compared to Oskar Schindler. A book has told his story, and a statue in Aarhus commemorates him—yet few people know about his remarkable actions. The Copenhagen Post spoke with Sindberg’s niece, who still remembers her uncle well, to shed light on this seldom-told and incredible story

  • More Danes are uncomfortable with English replacing Danish in daily life

    More Danes are uncomfortable with English replacing Danish in daily life

    A survey from NORSTAT, commissioned by Sune Steffen Hansen and published exclusively by The Copenhagen Post, shows that around 40% of the population is uncomfortable with English replacing Danish in their daily lives. While this is not a problem for the younger generation, half of the people in older generations have an issue with it

  • Be a green tourist – get free access to Copenhagen’s attractions

    Be a green tourist – get free access to Copenhagen’s attractions

    CopenPay is back. Last year’s attempt to get guests to take a sustainable approach when visiting Copenhagen’s attractions will be back in 2025, on an even bigger scale. 90 attractions are participating across Copenhagen and running throughout the summer

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.