Citizen in Denmark - Ny i Danmark

Family and societyFamily life and partnershipsDanish society and the welfare state are founded on respectfor the individual and responsibility for the community, bothin relation to the family and society as a whole.Equal rights for men and womenMen and women have the same rights and responsibilities,and participate in the labour market, economic andpolitical life on an equal footing. The same applies to familylife, where men and women have an equal right to makedecisions about their lives, including divorce, for example.In most families, both the husband and wife hold down jobsand share the task of running the home.Joint responsibility for citizen and societyCitizens and the public sector share responsibility for anumber of tasks, for example, that children and youngpeople receive a good upbringing and education and thatthe sick and weak receive care and treatment.By paying taxes, all citizens contribute towards the publicsector, which is responsible for carrying out a number ofimportant tasks. For example, the public sector provides daycare facilities for children, schools and hospitals, as well asproviding help for the sick, the elderly and others who areunable to look after themselves.Most families in Denmark consist of a father, mother andchildren. Many young people live on their own for a numberof years until they get married or move in together and havechildren. Some adults live alone with their children. Manyadults and elderly people live alone.In 2006, Denmark numbered almost 2.5 million householdswith an average of 2.1 people living in eachhousehold.Roughly speaking, they fell into thefollowing family types:PercentageMarried couple with children 13Married couple without children 21Couple with children 4Couple without children 6Single parent with children 5Single parent without children 49Registered partnerships 1Statistics Denmark, 2007FAMILYVolunteersA number of voluntary and private associations help thosein need. Often in close collaboration with the families andthe public sector. We refer to www.frivillige.dk for furtherdetails.55