0.000091 percent of the country's pensioners have been promised an extra 1,000 kroner per month
Last Friday, the Social Democrats promised extra money to a single pensioner who had appeared on Mette Frederiksen's Facebook. Now the party's spokesperson explains why Annemarie has been told, while everyone else must wait.
Thursday, October 22, Mette Frederiksen shared two pictures on both her Facebook and Instagram profiles of her and "Annemarie" on a shopping trip. (Photo: Screenshots from Mette Frederiksen's Instagram profile. Graphic: Morten Fogde Christensen, DR.) 26 minutes ago
It is a relatively small share of the country's pensioners who have so far received a guarantee that they will get an extra 1,000 kroner deposited into their bank accounts in the new year.
The large governing party, the Social Democrats, will only issue a promise to a single specific old-age pensioner out of the country's approximately 1.1 million pensioners.
If you convert it into a percentage, you need a handful of zeros: 0.000091 percent of the country's pensioners have been promised an extra 1,000 kroner per month.
"We are very pleased that we can now fulfil the election promise we gave voters before the election. Namely, that the old-age pensioners who have the least should get 1,000 kroner more per month. And Annemarie will get that," says acting political spokesperson for the Social Democrats, Lea Wermelin.
It has been a promise since the government was formed in June that the old-age pensioners who have the least should receive the financial boost. In the Finance Bill proposal, just over two billion kroner has been set aside to give the 1,000 kroner after tax to a total of 150,000 pensioners.
But the government, headed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S), has been criticised by both the DaneAge Association and the Danish People's Party (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/1-000-kroner-ekstra-om-maaneden-regeringen-holder-de-danske-pensionister-lidt-nar), because she, in the fifth month, still will not disclose which 150,000 pensioners are to receive an extra 1,000 kroner per month after tax.
But there is one single exception: namely, the pensioner Annemarie, whom Mette Frederiksen and the Social Democrats have used on several occasions in campaigns for the party's policy.
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On a shopping trip with the Prime Minister
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Last Thursday, Mette Frederiksen went on a shopping trip with Annemarie and subsequently shared pictures on both her Facebook and Instagram profiles with the message: 'The pensioners who have the least, they should get about 1,000 kroner more per month.'
Afterwards, the Social Democrats ended up promising (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/annemarie-var-paa-indkoebstur-med-statsministeren-men-s-garanterer-ikke-hun-er-en-af-de) that Annemarie will be included. The Social Democrats' spokesperson now elaborates on why.
"With Annemarie, we have assessed that she will end up getting these extra 1,000 kroner per month, because she is one of the pensioners who have the least. It's about things like assets in relation to where you stand," says Lea Wermelin.
How little does she have for her to qualify?
"I don't think I should stand here and disclose a private person's finances. She is one of the old-age pensioners we want to benefit from this. There are many old-age pensioners who, of course, have also been able to feel that prices have risen."
But the country's remaining 1.1 million old-age pensioners must continue to wait for an answer as to whether they are among the 150,000 who will receive the money, the spokesperson states:
"The final model is what we are discussing with the other parties, and therefore we cannot say in black and white that it will be exactly like this for everyone else, because that is something we have to get completely finalised."
How do you know that Annemarie falls within what will be the final model?
"Annemarie is one of the pensioners who have the least," is Lea Wermelin's response.
And then I simply ask: Where will the threshold be set?
"And the exact threshold is exactly what we are currently discussing with the other parties in the Finance Bill negotiations."
But where is the fairness in Annemarie being told, while everyone else has to wait?
"No one is going to wait longer in terms of when the money is paid out."
Now we're talking about being told?
"Yes, yes, but I am talking about the concrete change one experiences in daily life," says Lea Wermelin, adding that the country's other pensioners will get clarity 'very soon.'
Read also: Mette Frederiksen called them the 'most vulnerable pensioners': Now she wants to give extra money to only half of them (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/mette-frederiksen-kaldte-dem-de-mest-udsatte-pensionister-nu-vil-hun-kun-give-halvdelen-af-dem)
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Not illegal
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Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the Social Democrats are acting legally and are not breaking any administrative law rules, assesses Frederik Waage, professor of administrative law at the University of Southern Denmark.
As long as the proposal has not been passed as law, they are allowed to give positive special treatment to Annemarie by giving her clear notice that 1,000 kroner is on its way to her, even if all other pensioners in the country cannot get the same clarity, he points out.
"When it comes to the fact that they are currently negotiating a law, they can basically do as they please. The rules only take effect once the law is passed and the minister has to formulate the specific rules for the payout, because then a principle of equality applies. But at the present time, politicians have free rein to promise a particular citizen a special advantage," says Frederik Waage.
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Has appeared for the S before
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It is not the first time that Annemarie has participated in a campaign for the Social Democrats. On January 31, the party shared a picture of Annemarie on Facebook because she was due to receive a food voucher.
Screenshot from the Social Democrats' Facebook page from January 31, 2026.
The party wrote alongside the picture: "The food voucher is a helping hand for people like Annemarie, who have been hardest hit by the high prices in the supermarket." And then Annemarie, introduced as a 76-year-old old-age pensioner, said:
"I am grateful to receive the food voucher. 2,500 kroner is not small change. It's food on the table."
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