Denmark will be dependent on immigrants
03. sep. 2010 09.22 EnglishImmigrants and their descendants will be crucial to the functioning of the welfare society of the future.
By 2050, 20 percent of all persons of working age will be immigrants or immigrant descendants. Today, that is true for 10 percent, according to numbers from Statistics Denmark.
In today's edition of daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende, head of research with the Rockwool Foundation, Torben Tranæs, confirms that citizens with foreign roots will play a central part in financing the welfare state of the future. One reason is that many Danes without immigrant background will retire.
- Therefore, it's important that immigrants and their descendants up their level of education. And we have to attract highly skilled labour from abroad, says chief consultant Martin Steen Kabongo from the Confederation of Danish Industry.