Rasmussen, who is also foreign minister, made the comments in an interview with newspaper Politiken as Denmark’s new political season begins.

While most Danish politicians spend July on holiday, they return in August with each party having a summer conference or sommergruppemøde at which it presents its priorities and agenda for the rest of the year.

Low fertility rates in Denmark should be high on the country’s political agenda, Rasmussen told Politiken.

“It’s not just a Danish phenomenon because it’s a characteristic of most civilised societies, certainly in Europe. I’ve seen British newspapers this summer describe it as a crisis greater than epidemics, Ukraine and immigration,” he said.

The Moderate leader said he wants to make it government policy to push Denmark’s fertility rate from the current 1.5 to 2.1, which is statistically considered the level needed to maintain a society.

Asked what measures could be taken, he praised suggestions made by other commentators that the pensions system could be used to help first-time home buyers and that new parents could be given a cash bonus of up to 20,000 kroner.

But a “combination of many things” would be needed to have a large enough effect, he said, adding that he sought a “framework” through which the government and parliament can discuss and begin to address the issue.

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The Moderate Party’s political spokesperson Monika Rubin meanwhile told DR radio on Tuesday that changes could be made to labour rules to benefit families.

“We should look at whether we can make a more flexible labour market for families with small children. It’s tough to have small children,” she said.

“They get sick more often than bigger children and need their parents in a different way,” she said.

The suggestion has already faced pushback from other parties.

In a post on social media X (Twitter), the Liberal Alliance tax spokesperson Steffen Frølund said it is “not up to politicians to get involved in people’s working hours, whether by scrapping public holidays, ordering them to the production line or demanding shorter days for parents”.

Frølund’s comment appears to reference the government’s decision to repeal the Great Prayer Day public holiday in 2023 and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s past comments on the necessity of working in tough jobs.

“All those things are between the employer and employee,” Frølund said.