Denmark wants foreigners to work to access welfare benefits

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark wants immigrants to work 37 hours a week to access social benefits. In Tuesday’s proposal, the government said “there are still too many people, especially with non-Western backgrounds, who do not have a job to get up to” in the morning. The minority Social Democratic government’s proposal needs to be approved in the 179-seat parliament, but is expected to get support from center-right opposition lawmakers. The report said many women with roots in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey are outside the labor market. A refugee group said many immigrant women are willing to work but the country does not have enough full-time jobs for them to do.