We asked readers of The Local for their tips on what works well about life in Denmark. The country may not be perfect (are any countries perfect?), but it is certainly well-organised, with a lot of handy solutions that just work better than they do in most other countries.
The Mobile Pay and Too Good to Go apps were highlighted by Lisa Pettit, who lives in Virum.
“Mobile pay makes money transfer between friends and family really simple. It also makes paying restaurant bills for a group much easier- one person pays the others mobile pay them,” she wrote.
“Too Good to Go is great for getting leftover bakery goods much cheaper,” she said.
Denmark’s digitised setup makes it very easy to access your medical records, said Nana from Ghana and the United States, who lives in Copenhagen.
The MinSundhed app, “where you can get all test results, doctor’s appointments and prescriptions in one place” is “very convenient for tracking historical health records,” she wrote.
“It doesn’t matter what doctor you see or where in Denmark as all health history is stored based on your CPR number. Definitely don’t have this with private healthcare systems in the US,” she said.
While nobody likes paying taxes, the system of combining income and capital gains taxes makes life easier, said Kevin from India, who lives in Aarhus.
You “don't really have to think about it whether it's income tax or capital gains or housing,” he wrote.
“I moved to Denmark from the Southwestern US where a drive of four hours to get to the nearest major population center is normal and there is no realistic public transportation system,” explained Ray Nance from New Mexico in the US, who lives in North Zealand.
In Denmark, “everything is much closer AND public transportation is available!” he said.
“Also, even though I was concerned at first, I have grown to love the convenience of MitID and Mobile Pay. I really missed having them during a recent trip to the US,” he said in reference to Denmark’s digital ID system, used for online verification and accessing public services, as well as the popular payment app.
“I do not waste as much time travelling. And when taking a train or bus, I am able to work or relax because I am not driving for hours. The US has digital ID and payment systems as well, but they just are not as smooth and seamless as MitID and Mobile Pay,” Ray added.
Being caught short when out and about is not such an inconvenience in Denmark, according to Kathryn in Billund.
“Public toilets! Always open, clean and in good working order, even on public transport or in the middle of the woods,” she wrote.
“Only once in five years have I found one without toilet paper. Sounds like a small thing, but in other countries the public loos are often filthy, vandalised, or locked because of misuse or lack of staffing,” Kathryn explained.
“I think functioning public toilets are a good demonstration of a functional society. There’s enough staff paid enough to look after the toilets and take pride in their work,” she said.
Denmark’s healthcare system was also praised for being one of the things that makes it easier to get on with life.
“One of the main reasons we moved from the USA is the cost of healthcare. In California we paid $400 per month per person for our health insurance and it didn't even cover everything,” wrote an anonymous reader who moved from California to Jutland town Horsens.
“Indeed, it saves a lot of money. With the bills for electricity, water, heating, mobile phones also being more reasonable, our cost of living is half of what it used to be,” they said.
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