Children and young people

How is the well-being of children and young people?

Note: Below, we provide links to Statistics Denmark and others  who make statistics on the subject. In some instances, the sources referred to below have content in Danish only or limited content in English.

Statistics Denmark has statistics on how many children in Denmark are placed in out-of-home care and how many notifications of concern are made per year. You can also find statistics on support given to children, young persons and families that are in need of special help in everyday life. Find the statistics via the subject page:

• Disadvantaged children and young people

The Danish Center for Social Science Research (VIVE) has released several publications on the lack of well-being of children and young people:

• "Børn og unge i Danmark - velfærd og trivsel" (in Danish) looks into topics such as material wealth, poverty, housing, health, childcare in institutions, education, loneliness, crime, eating habits and spare time.

• "SPOR – Børns udvikling og trivsel gennem livet" (2021) (in Danish) is a report based on a longitudinal study of the development and well-being of children and deals with issues such as screen time, time in institutions, parents with a low level of well-being. 

• Feature page gathering statistics and releases on the lack of well-being of children and young people placed outside the home (in Danish). 

• "Unges opfattelser af køn, krop og seksualitet" (2018) (in Danish) is a survey of sexual experiences, body satisfaction, experiences of unwanted sharing of photographs and everyday life on social media for the 16-20-year-olds.

• The experience of 18-30-year-olds with sugar dating is examined in the quantitative study ”Unges udveksling af intimitet for materielle goder” (in Danish).

You can also read about the lifestyle and health behaviour of young people in the national survey “Den Nationale Sundhedsprofil” from the Danish Health Authority:

• You can see the results of the national health profile 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2023 in the database on the health of the Danes "Danskernes Sundhed" and the related publications (in Danish).

• You can find historic information on the subject in the so-called MULD surveys (in Danish).

Two organisations, Børns Vilkår and TrygFonden, compile statistics on the prevalence of fourteen types of child neglect, whether in the home and close surroundings, in school and under the care of authorities and in society as a whole

• Their status report on the neglect of children in Denmark, "Status 2023 – Svigt af børn i Danmark" (in Danish), includes information from the Agency of Family Law on the annual number of custody and parent visitation cases.

Every four years, the Danish contribution to the international survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, "Skolebørnsundersøgelsen", is published, last by the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), with information on the health and well-being of children, their health habits and social relations.

Knowledge and facts about so-called worrisome absenteeism can be found at:

• Børns Vilkår: Skolens tomme stole - rapport om skolefravær (2020) (in Danish)
• VIVE: Panelanalyse af bekymrende skolefravær (2020) (in Danish)

In "Børns digitale liv" (2023) (in Danish), published by Algoritmer, Data & Demokrati, the children themselves answer questions about their well-being, security and concerns when using digital media.

How many children are victims of violence and abuse?

• In StatBank Denmark, you will find a table of Victims of reported criminal offences by type of offence, age and sex.

• Børns Vilkår is an organisation working to help children who feel neglected. They have published an analysis of physical and emotional abuse of children at home "Vold mod børn i Danmark: Analyse af fysisk og psykisk vold i hjemmet" (2022) (in Danish).

• The report "Status 2023 – Svigt af børn i Danmark" (in Danish) from Børns Vilkår and TrygFonden deals with the neglect of children in Denmark and contains a section on violence against children.

• The longitudinal study of the development and well-being of children"SPOR – Børns udvikling og trivsel gennem livet" (in Danish) from VIVE (the Danish Center for Social Science Research) contains information on the number of children experiencing a heavy-handed upbringing.

• VIVE has also gathered existing knowledge from research literature in their report on physical violence and sexual assaults against children: "Fysisk vold og seksuelle overgreb mod børn" (2021) (in Danish).

• VIVE (then SFI) previously released the publication "Vold og seksuelle overgreb mod børn og unge i Danmark 2016", which clarifies the scope of physical violence against and emotional abuse of children and young people.

How do children and young people spend their spare time?

• In StatBank Denmark you can find tables of children’s sporting activities and members of sports clubs by age.

• The StatBank Denmark tables are based on the surveys of Danes’ exercise and sports habits "danskernes motions- og sportsvaner" (in Danish) from The Danish Institute for Sports Studies.

• An article looks into the declining share of children and young people with after-school jobs: "Andelen af børn og unge med fritidsjob faldt i 2020“ (in Danish). The article is from the "Bag Tallene” series from Statistics Denmark and examines the development in children and young people with after-school jobs from 2008 onwards.

• The study "Børn og unge i Danmark - velfærd og trivsel 2022" (in Danish), released by VIVE includes questions about children and young people’s recreation activities in terms of computers, books, participation in sports, religious activities, parties and about their cultural experiences, such as visits to cinemas, theatres and museums. It also includes information on after-school jobs of the 15-year-olds and the 19-year-olds.

• From the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children 2018, a report has been released ”Fysisk aktivitet og stillesiddende adfærd blandt 11-15-årige” (in Danish) on physical activity and sedentary behaviour among 11-15 year old children.

See also:

Media usage by children and young people, see FAQ on Media usage.
Juvenile delinquency, see FAQ on Crime.
Bullying among children, see FAQ on Bullying.
Overweight among children, see FAQ on Overweight and BMI.
The mental health of children and young people, see FAQ on Stress and mental disorders.
Young people and alcohol / Young people and drugs, see FAQ on Abuse/Addiction.
 
[This page was last reviewed in June 2024]