Is something rotten in the state of Denmark? Austerity measures from a child and youth perspective

Abstract

Inspired by Disabled Children’s Childhood Studies and the lived citizenship approach, this article examines austerity in Denmark from the perspectives of 39 disabled children and young people. The article investigates austerity as a phenomenon encompassing symbolic, material, and affective dimensions. It sheds light on financial cutbacks and their consequences, and points to a more general development in political ideas of welfare. Following the financial crisis, policies aimed at economic growth and productivity, coupled with austerity measures, have created a domino effect. The combination of cutbacks and the political portrayal of disabled people as a “cost problem” legitimises the deterioration of the group’s living conditions and access to public services and assistance. Due to austerity measures, disabled children and young people have increasingly come to experience their relationships with local governments as exhausting and stressful for themselves and their parents, which causes them to develop feelings of guilt and shame.