Denmark
Explore Denmark's leave and income replacement benefits, along with up-to-date information on average wages and the gender pay gap. See how these entitlements and wages work in practice with a detailed example.
Entitlements
Maternity leave and pay
Paid maternity leave
Rate of maternity pay
Rate of shareable pay
Each parent is entitled to 24 weeks, some of which is shareable. In the case of the birth parent, they get 4 weeks of pregnancy leave (before birth), 2 weeks non-transfarable after birth, 8 weeks that must be taken in the first 10 weeks, which is shareable, 9 weeks that cannot be shared and can be taken in the first year and 5 weeks that can be shared and can be taken in the first year. This is 15 weeks of non-shareable maternity leave and 13 weeks shareable. Source The maximum is DKK 137.43 per hour before tax for maternity benefits (DKK 5.085/37 hours). If your hourly wage is less than DKK 137.43, you will get your usual hourly rate. Source
Both parents are entitled to their own leave plus 13 weeks each of leave they can share (with some conditions). Source The maximum is DKK 137.43 per hour before tax for maternity benefits (DKK 5.085/37 hours). If your hourly wage is less than DKK 137.43, you will get your usual hourly rate. Source
Paternity leave and pay
Paid paternity leave
Rate of paternity pay
The non-birth parent is entitled to 24 weeks, some of which is sharable. 2 weeks of non-transferable leave within the first 10 weeks after birth, 9 weeks of non-transferable leave to be taken in the first year and 13 weeks of shareable leave to be taken in the first year. That's 11 weeks attributed to paternity and 13 to shareable leave. Source The maximum is DKK 137.43 per hour before tax for maternity benefits (DKK 5.085/37 hours). If your hourly wage is less than DKK 137.43, you will get your usual hourly rate. Source
Parental leave and pay
Parental leave per parent
Beyond parental leave at birth, there is no additional parental leave policies, however some of the birth parental leave can be postponed and there is care leave (pasningsorlov) to care for seriously ill children. Source Beyond parental leave at birth, there is no additional parental leave policies, however some of the birth parental leave can be postponed and there is care leave (pasningsorlov) to care for seriously ill children. Source
Statistics
Average gross yearly wage
Exchange rate
Tax rate
Gender wage gap
At the exchange rate of 8.6454 the average gross yearly wage is £60,879.20. Source At this salary, the effective tax rate (including income tax and social security contributions, but excluding any benefits) is 35.66%. SourceHence, the average yearly take home (net) wage is £39,169.68.
The measured gender wage gap is 7.9%. Hence, with 52 week years, the net weekly wages are:
- For a woman: £722.29.
- For a man: £784.24.
Practical example
For the birth parent
Max protected leave available
Income replacement
The birth parent is assumed to have taken all the shareable leave, totalling 41 weeks and have gone back for the remaining 11 weeks. Hence the income for the year is maternity income replacement + salary for remaining weeks. This is pre-tax, so with the personal allowence of DKK 51,600, the remaining is taxed at the rate of 12.01% (bottom tax rate) + 25% (approximate municipal tax rate). Note maternity pay is exempt from 8% AM-bidrag.
For the non-birth parent
Max protected leave available
Income replacement
The birth parent is assumed to have taken all the shareable leave, hence the the non-birth parent is assumed to have taken 11 weeks of paid paternity leave and went back to work for 41 weeks. The income for the year is paternity income replacement + salary for remaining weeks. This is pre-tax, so with the personal allowence of DKK 51,600, the remaining is taxed at the rate of 12.01% (bottom tax rate) + 25% (approximate municipal tax rate). Note paternity pay is exempt from 8% AM-bidrag.