Another prominent voice has joined in the debate on the au pairs in Denmark, which has been raging the past week.
the Entrepreneur Martin Thorborg sat down on Sunday to the keys on twitter, where he questioned much of the criticism of recent days has flown about the ears of the followers of the au pair scheme.
Explain to me why the same people who happily buy a t-shirt, made in miserable conditions in Manila, howls of au pairs from the same country who live safely and well with a Danish family, where they work half and get 4 times as much in salary.
— Martin Thorborg (@thorborg) December 22, 2019
It spawned a fierce debate between the Leadership-the founder and several other twitter-users, where words like ‘nonsense’ and ‘hypocrisy’ were thrown around.
Nonsense, you can examine things if it is so important for you. But the truth is that you don’t care, as long as you don’t know it and it is inexpensive. Hypocrisy…
— Martin Thorborg (@thorborg) December 22, 2019
the Extra Leaf has taken a talk with the entrepreneur about his defence of the scheme, as he himself is a product of, and which he himself on several occasions has taken advantage of in her adult life.
– My mother was an au pair in Denmark, and met in the way of my father.
– I’ve also had four au pairs in the time my children were small. When our current au pair goes home, we must not, however, have a new. I mix me only in the debate now, because I sincerely believe that this will the sin of all the parties, in the absence of the scheme. I really can’t see who loses here, says Martin Thorborg to Ekstra Bladet.
He says also, that the system in many ways has already been destroyed, as it has been agreed that the host family must pay 17.500 Danish kroner for a mandatory language course, which has made the scheme too expensive to use for many families.
Since the introduction of merbetalingen is the number of au pairs in Denmark has fallen from more than 4000 to just under 2000.
– Purely political, there are many who have wanted to abolish the system. So, they introduced the small steps that make it impossible for many families to avail themselves of it. One can clearly see in the figures. It will be simply too expensive.
– But is it not just fundamentally a question about market conditions? If people will not pay it, as the product costs, so the disappearance of the product from the market?
– Yes, it can be said. But if you make it more expensive, so it ends up to be the perhaps the 200 richest families in Denmark, who alone can afford to get the here click. It will de facto mean that it is abolished, and that, I think, is sin. Both for families, who have big benefit from help in everyday life and, not least, for the people who come here, he says.
THEREFORE STARTED the DEBATE
the Debate about the au pairs is the latest time flared up again after the Aliens and Integration, Mattias Tesfaye promised a showdown with the scheme in its current form in an interview with Politiken.
Here, said the minister, among other things, that the scheme ‘must either operate according to the intention, otherwise it must be abolished. Or be made into a erhvervsordning or something completely different, but there must be one or other.’
the Outlook was among other things Berlingskes editor-in-chief Mette Østergaard on the pitch with a criticism of the minister’s plan, which led to fierce debate on both social and classical media.
– the Scheme is today called cultural exchanges. What do you think of it?
– I’ve had au pairs, who mainly came to Denmark to earn money, and I’ve had au pairs, who came primarily to experience the country. It can be very different.
– But the vast majority of the au pairs in Denmark comes from the Philippines. Is it not reasonable to assume that they have an economic motive for coming here?
– I fully acknowledge that many came primarily for the money. But they come from poor circumstances, and in Denmark the opportunity to earn far more than they have the ability to at home. You can not shut the eyes in order that it makes a big difference for the people here, says Martin Thorborg.
When it comes to the conditions of au pairs in Denmark, he is, however, completely agree that there can be taken actions that improve their conditions, while they are here.
Families, who exploit au pairs, and do not treat them properly, it must be found and punished, he says.
– I would like to make their conditions better. I would very much like to. If there are good proposals that can be made their life better, then it’s just to get started.
– Whether it is changes in their employment conditions, changes in relation to their residence permits, whether it is more control with the families. Suggestions for great and constructive changes I’m 100 percent with
– But it would be a big mistake to abolish the system. Both by outright prohibition or by making it more expensive. It is there simply nobody who has the benefit of, says Martin Thorborg.
