The rules for Denmark’s new fødevarecheck, literally “food cheque” scheme, which will provide tax-free cash payouts to specified groups this summer, have been changed at the last minute to prevent any of the cash going to a small number of potentially-eligible persons housed at deportation facilities.
“You should not receive food money from the Danish state if you are not allowed to be here. It’s quite simple,” Employment Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek told broadcaster TV2.
The change was described by Bek as “very minor”, with only five to ten people “maybe” affected.
The bill on the food allowance is being fast-tracked so that payments can begin in May. It is due to be put to a vote in parliament on Thursday.
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Around 4.5 billion kroner has been allocated to the food allowance, which will be paid out to more than two million people in Denmark.
The government last month reached a deal with two left-wing opposition parties, SF and the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), to vote the scheme through parliament.
Eligible persons will receive the money in May and June.
Families with children aged under 18, retirees who receive the state pension, unemployed persons and students who live on the state student grant, SU, will be entitled to the money.
Families in which both parents each earn less than around 500,000 kroner a year will receive 5,000 kroner under the scheme. If one parent earns more than around 500,000 kroner a year, the family will still get 2,500 kroner.
State pensioners with liquid assets of less than 350,000 kroner, as well as Danes who were receiving a welfare benefit (offentlig ydelse) as of November 2025, will also receive 2,500 kroner, while students who do not live with their parents and receive SU will get 1,000 kroner.
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