SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In the U.S., we are in a bit of a labor market freeze, with some people clinging to their jobs for dear life. In Denmark, there is a set of policies that help keep the labor market active. Our colleagues over at The Indicator from Planet Money, Darian Woods and Stephan Bisaha, explained Denmark's flexicurity.
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DARIAN WOODS: Growing up on the Faroe Islands off mainland Denmark, Rakul Skardenni loved hanging out with her school friends. School work - less so.
RAKUL SKARDENNI: I just wanted to go out and have fun with friends and drink some beers.
STEPHAN BISAHA: So Rakul got a job on a fishing boat. After several years, she moved to the Denmark mainland and got a job in child care, which worked for a while, until she had her own daughter.
SKARDENNI: It became too much for me.
BISAHA: So she quit, which sounds like a big decision, because the family would basically survive on government support.
WOODS: And here's where flexicurity comes in. Employers can fire easily, but there's also security - generous unemployment benefits, training and help for anyone looking for a new job. Rakul did have obligations, though. She had to show that she was applying to jobs and regularly meet with a jobs counselor.
SKARDENNI: They were, like, telling me that I had that - an opportunity to get in school. And they were like, but listen to me. You are - you have so much positive vibes in your body that we mean that you will be great to this job. And I was like, OK, what is this job?
BISAHA: The job - train to become a nursing assistant.
SKARDENNI: And I was like, but what about money? I'm a single mom. I cannot have - afford to pay school. And he was like, but now - yeah, but you are getting 100% payments, yeah, during the school.
BISAHA: The Danish government would pay 110% of the unemployment benefit to people studying in industries where there was a shortage of labor.
SKARDENNI: So I was like, wow, I want to try to do that.
WOODS: Rakul enrolled and studied for the next 5 1/2 years. And she didn't need to take on an extra part-time job.
SKARDENNI: You're living a normal life and you can give your children food in their mouth without thinking about, oh, we need to save 10 krones for this and 15 for that.
WOODS: This is flexicurity in action.
BISAHA: But for a less motivated person, we wanted to know if there was a risk this safety net might become a hammock.
MORTEN GRAZING: So you want to know about the flexicurity?
WOODS: Yes. So we'll talk about...
BISAHA: Morten Grazing is a deputy director general at the Danish Agency for Labor Market and Recruitment.
GRAZING: Basically, there's a unwritten contract that, OK, you receive these social benefits. They're quite generous. But then you have to participate in activities and be active in seeking jobs and document that you are active pursuing to get a job.
BISAHA: Unemployment benefits are sanctioned if the person doesn't meet these responsibilities.
WOODS: Morten says this muscular approach balancing rights and responsibilities has worked.
GRAZING: In many years, we've had a high employment. And also our unemployment is very low, actually. So well, basically, the results are quite good.
WOODS: And that buzzing economy is working for Rakul. Her new job is a far better match for her.
SKARDENNI: I love my job, seriously, really much. So I put 150% in my job.
WOODS: You're a people person, so this is a great job for you.
SKARDENNI: Seriously, really (laughter).
BISAHA: Stephan Bisaha.
WOODS: Darian Woods, NPR News.
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