The amount of compensation paid by Danish pension companies for loss of earnings capacity in 2024 was DKK 9.5bn, figures from Insurance and Pension Denmark (I&P Denmark) have revealed.

Almost 85,000 Danes received a monthly supplementary payment for loss of working capacity from their pension company in 2024. As a rule, it is predominantly older people who lose the ability to work but an increasing proportion of expenses are paid out to people under 40.

Since 2021, the number of people under 40 receiving ongoing compensation for loss of earning capacity has increased by almost 40 per cent. In 2024 alone, around 3,800 young people lost their ability to work. And young women between the ages of 30 and 40 are particularly affected.

"It's striking that it's women in their 30s who are increasingly losing the ability to work," I&P Denmark director of insurance and digitalisation, Thomas Brenøe, said.

He continued: "Many families have busy and sometimes hectic lives, and perhaps this affects women to a greater extent. There is clearly a need to investigate the reasons for the increase in numbers. Does it have something to do with the division of labour in the home? Or with the different educational and professional choices? It's worrying that we're now seeing a gender imbalance.”

He added that pension companies are making great efforts to prevent more Danes from having to leave the labour market while helping sick Danes to recover and return to the labour market.

“Young people have a whole life ahead of them, which is why pension companies' efforts to maintain young people's foothold in the labour market are particularly important,” he concluded.

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