Today’s big topic: He got his first bus fine at age 13. Now he owes the state 184,000 kroner
For 21-year-old Lucas Lerche, becoming debt-free feels like an insurmountable mountain.
What’s happening?
Lucas Lerche got his first fine on the bus when he was 13 years old, and it would turn out to be the first of many. Very many. As a young teenager, he never bought a ticket when he rode public transportation between the ages of 13 and 16, and that did not go unnoticed by the ticket inspectors in Copenhagen.
»At one point, I counted 56 fines from DSB, but it was definitely more than that«, says Lucas Lerche, now 21 and training to become a chef.
When Lucas Lerche turned 16, he got a full-time job at Netto and logged into his e-Boks for the first time. There, he could clearly see fees and reminders piling up in his inbox. Still, doing anything about it felt completely overwhelming and unreal, he recalls. It was not until he was placed outside the home at 17 in temporary residential care that he began to develop a different understanding of his finances and, more generally, got a sense of »what was okay, and what wasn’t okay«, he explains.
Why it matters!
Lucas Lerche is far from alone. Last year, 8,000 children and young people had a combined debt of 41.7 million kroner to the state, spread across fare evasion fines for buses and trains, police fines, unpaid legal costs, and two types of personal taxes. The National Council for Children says there is a clear overrepresentation of vulnerable children and young people among those with the largest debts, noting that 10 percent of the group of children with the most debt accounted for a full 69 percent of the total debt last year.
Today, Lucas Lerche wonders why neither he nor his parents ever received messages or phone calls about the growing debt. The Danish Debt Collection Agency says that, as a rule, it does not proactively contact citizens about their debt, but that the child and the holders of parental custody can always get an overview of the debt on ’My Debt Overview’ or by contacting the agency.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– The money keeps pouring down on the nation’s seniors
It pays very well to stay in the workforce if you are getting on in years. And now yet another scheme tailored to the oldest employees is on the way. On Thursday, November 12, Parliament is all but certain to pass a substantial increase in the extra employment tax deduction aimed at seniors. Not only will the deduction be larger, but the period during which seniors can receive the extra deduction will be extended from two years to five years before the state pension age. Read more here.
– Danish hotel guests warned about scam messages after data breach
Several hotels across Denmark were caught up in a data breach over the weekend that led to a number of their upcoming guests receiving fraudulent payment requests. That is according to TV Syd, TV 2 Nord, and TV 2 Fyn, Ritzau reports. The affected hotels include Schackenborg Slotskro and Hotel Koldingfjord in Southern and South Jutland, Hotel Faaborg Fjord on Funen, and Aalbæk Badehotel in North Jutland.
– Electricity prices are at their highest in nearly four years. The reason is a so-called ’dunkelflaute’
Gray, calm weather has pushed this week’s electricity prices to their highest level since December 2022. That is according to a press release from the energy company Norlys, Ritzau reports. The wholesale electricity price reached 1.8 kroner per kilowatt-hour in western Denmark and two kroner per kilowatt-hour in eastern Denmark this week. One reason for this week’s electricity prices is the phenomenon known as dunkelflaute. Dunkelflaute is a period of low production from both wind and solar power.
Talk of town: Night nannies and disco nannies offer overwhelmed parents of young children a breather
Nurse Ida Falk helps severely overstretched parents care for their baby at night.
»Some parents want you to take full charge of the baby and wake them as little as possible, perhaps giving expressed milk instead of putting the baby to the breast. But most choose to breastfeed in bed, and then we help with latching and take the baby away again as soon as it lets go, so the mother can quickly go back to sleep«, Ida Falk explains.
Ida Falk is a trained nurse with seven years of experience in the maternity ward at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, and she works as a nurse and chief clinical development officer at Trolle Care, which offers private nursing care. According to her, it is most often parents under maximum strain who ask for help in order to make the first stretch of family life hold together.
According to Lene Tanggaard, a professor of educational psychology at Aarhus University, the night nanny phenomenon reflects a broader trend in which many families with children experience being under pressure in daily life. That is due in part to an accelerated labor market, she says, but also to a performance-driven model of parenting, in which, beyond being a good parent, one also feels pressure to look good, exercise, get enough sleep and take care of oneself.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.