Current parental benefit legislation is designed for either employees or the self-employed. However, a large group of people in the labour market - including many artists and music creators - combine different types of income. This means that many fall between two stools and end up in a precarious situation when it comes to accessing parental benefits.

Requires political action

A broad alliance in the cultural and creative industries is now proposing four improvements to the maternity leave system. The improvements will close gaps in legislation and ensure equal maternity rights in the labour market.

One of the 21 organisations in the alliance is the Danish Actors' Equity Association. According to board member Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, the current legislation results in unfair discrimination because it is based on an outdated understanding of the labour market and does not match the reality faced by many who have more than one type of income:

"This is completely unfair discrimination against hard-working people who create great value in society. The consequence is that many risk losing basic rights, even if they have an activity in the labour market that would give employees or the self-employed access to parental benefits. When an outdated system means that people with the same labour input do not have the same basic rights, something is fundamentally wrong. That's why political action is needed now," says Birgitte Hjort Sørensen.

Dansk Kulturliv also supports the four proposals. Head of Secretariat, Jakob Sørensen, says:

"Today, a large part of Denmark's labour force is not entitled to parental benefits simply because their income is calculated differently than in traditional jobs. This is due to a rigid system that is still designed for a time when most people were employees. This imbalance hits the cultural sector particularly hard and serves neither the culture, the artists nor us as organisers and cultural communicators. We need to rectify this."

Poor maternity conditions particularly affect women

A report produced in collaboration with the think tank Equalis in spring 2025 showed that seven out of ten musicians have poor access to income during maternity leave. At the same time, the report showed that parental leave and raising a family increases the already unequal gender balance in Danish music. Almost six out of ten female musicians surveyed find it difficult to resume their careers after maternity leave, and one in four experience being rejected because of maternity leave.

Chairman of Koda, Loui Törnqvist, says:

"The fact that we can gather such a broad alliance behind these political proposals shows that there is a problem that needs to be solved. At the same time, we know that the current legislation particularly affects women, who in many cases risk leaving the music industry altogether due to the poor maternity conditions. This clearly shows that we need a system that supports everyone and ensures that talent and diversity are not lost in cultural life."

According to the Labour Force Survey 2023, up to eight percent of those employed in the Danish labour market have more than one type of employment. This means that approximately 250,000 Danes risk losing their right to parental benefits if the current legislation is not changed.

The Alliance proposes four improvements to ensure a level playing field

Entitlement to parental leave should be based on total working hours: We propose that entitlement to parental benefits should be based on an overall calculation of working hours across salaried work, fee-based work and self-employment. In addition, it should be possible to extend the calculation period.

The requirement for employment on the first day of leave must be relaxed: We propose that the requirement for employment on the first day of leave is relaxed if you fulfil the employment requirement in the overall calculation.

Parental benefit is calculated on the total income: We propose that the fulfilment of the employment requirement, after the above change, gives the right to calculate the parental benefit rate based on the total income, i.e. both salary income (hours), fees (converted hours) and profit from self-employment.

Equal access to completing necessary tasks without deductions from maternity pay: We propose that combined workers be given the same opportunity as self-employed workers to work 3.5 hours/week without offsetting.

Organisations in the alliance:

Autor, Billedkunstnernes Forbund (BKF), Dansk Artist Forbund, Dansk Forfatterforening, Dansk Journalistforbund - Medier & Kommunikation, Dansk Komponistforening (DKF), Dansk Kulturliv, Dansk Kunstnerråd, Dansk Live, Dansk Musiker Forbund, Dansk Scenekunst, Dansk Skuespillerforbund, Danske Forlag, Danske Scenografer, Danske Sceneinstruktører, DPA (Danske Popular Autorer), IFPI, Koda, Musikforlæggerne, Foreningen Musikbevægelsen af 2019 and Producentforeningen.