Barselsdagpenge for Self-Employed Influencers in Denmark: The Income Requirement Explained

Two separate requirements — not one

Barselsdagpenge (statutory parental-leave pay) for a self-employed influencer is decided by two separate requirements that get conflated: an employment requirement, which decides whether you're entitled to the benefit at all, and an income requirement, which decides how high the weekly rate is. The two are assessed separately, on separate documentation — and a creator with fluctuating or multiple simultaneous income sources can easily meet one without fully meeting the other.

Most guidance on parental leave in Denmark is written for employees, where both requirements are effectively satisfied automatically through the employment relationship. For a self-employed influencer — running their own business, their own revenue, and often several brands as simultaneous income sources — both requirements have to be documented independently, and that's where most self-employed creators get caught out.

The employment requirement: are you entitled to barselsdagpenge at all?

Per borger.dk, a self-employed person must have worked at least 18.5 hours a week for at least 6 of the last 12 months, and have worked in the month immediately before the leave starts, to meet the employment requirement. That's the same threshold already mentioned in the Academy's article on what happens to an influencer contract when the creator goes on parental leave — but here the requirement is the article's actual subject, not a passing note.

For an influencer who runs their business as a secondary occupation alongside an employee job, an SU (student grant) income, or another main occupation, one distinction matters: the employment requirement for barselsdagpenge as self-employed is about work in your own business — not a parallel employee job. That's a different assessment from the one an a-kasse makes for dagpenge; see the section on dagpenge further down.

The income requirement: what decides the rate in 2026

Once the employment requirement is met, your business's surplus decides how much of the maximum rate you actually receive. Per borger.dk, for 2026:

• The full rate requires a business surplus of at least DKK 264,420. The maximum rate is DKK 5,085 a week before tax.
• A lower surplus gives a proportionally lower rate — the income requirement is not a hard eligibility cut-off, but the thing that scales the rate up or down.
• No surplus at all means, by default, no barselsdagpenge, unless you hold insurance (see below).

That makes the income requirement fundamentally different from, say, dagpenge's income requirement of DKK 286,632 over 3 years, which is a pure eligibility gate — see does influencer income affect Danish unemployment benefits (dagpenge)? for that distinction. Here, the question isn't access — it's the size of the payment.

If there's no surplus — the insurance option

A new or slowly growing influencer business often has a small or non-existent surplus in its first years, even as revenue climbs. If you've taken out a voluntary sickness-benefit insurance (sygedagpengeforsikring) with Udbetaling Danmark at least 6 months before applying for barselsdagpenge, you can, per borger.dk, receive at least two-thirds of the maximum rate — regardless of your actual surplus. The premium depends on the coverage level you choose and has to be confirmed directly with Udbetaling Danmark; it isn't a fixed, published amount this article can state precisely.

For an influencer who has just started their sole proprietorship (enkeltmandsvirksomhed) and doesn't yet have a financial year with a solid surplus behind them, the insurance is therefore the practical route to avoid ending up with DKK 0 in barselsdagpenge if the leave falls before the business has genuinely taken off.

Which tax year counts? The newest available annual assessment

The most commonly overlooked point for an influencer with fluctuating or fast-growing income is this: Udbetaling Danmark calculates the rate from your newest annual tax assessment (årsopgørelse) available to Skattestyrelsen on the day your application is received — not from the business's actual, current-year result. The assessment also doesn't only capture the pure business surplus: it also counts any income transferred to a spouse who works in the business, and any sickness or parental-leave benefits you yourself received during that year.

That has a concrete consequence for a creator whose income grows quickly year over year — a common situation for an influencer business having its breakthrough: if your newest available annual assessment is from a year when the business was still small, your barselsdagpenge is calculated on that lower surplus — not on the revenue you actually have by the time you go on leave. There's no mechanism that automatically updates the calculation to an expected, higher surplus for the current year.

How to apply

If you have a CVR number, you apply for barselsdagpenge as self-employed via NemRefusion. Without a CVR number, you contact Udbetaling Danmark directly instead. The application must be submitted no later than 8 weeks after the birth — apply later, and you generally only receive barselsdagpenge from the date Udbetaling Danmark receives the application, aside from specific exceptions.

Worked example (hypothetical)

The figures below are made up to illustrate the principle — not an official calculation formula from Udbetaling Danmark, and not a real customer case. The exact calculation should always be confirmed with Udbetaling Danmark.

An influencer runs her sole proprietorship alongside a part-time job. Her newest available annual tax assessment — from the prior financial year, before the business genuinely took off — showed a business surplus of DKK 150,000. By the time she applies for barselsdagpenge, the business is actually running at an expected surplus of over DKK 300,000 for the current year, but that doesn't count, because only the newest available annual assessment is used. As a simplified, illustrative approximation of the proportional-rate principle — where DKK 264,420 gives the full rate of DKK 5,085/week — DKK 150,000 corresponds to roughly 150,000 ÷ 264,420 × DKK 5,085 ≈ DKK 2,885 a week instead of the full rate. This is a simplified approximation for illustration, not Udbetaling Danmark's actual calculation method, which isn't published as a simple formula.

Decision framework

• IF you've run your business for at least 6 months at 18.5+ hours/week and worked in the month right before the leave THEN you meet the employment requirement — move on to the income requirement.
• IF your expected surplus for the current year is materially higher than in your newest available annual assessment THEN plan for the rate to be calculated on the older, lower figure — not your current revenue.
• IF your business is new and doesn't yet have a solid surplus THEN consider a voluntary sickness-benefit insurance with Udbetaling Danmark at least 6 months before you expect to apply.
• IF you're unsure whether your activity even counts as a self-employed business THEN settle the classification first — see the article on employee, fee recipient or self-employed status below. Only the self-employed category has access to barselsdagpenge under this scheme.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the income requirement is an eligibility gate. It isn't — it scales the rate, it doesn't decide the right to barselsdagpenge on its own. That's what the employment requirement does.
• Counting on the current year's expected surplus. Udbetaling Danmark uses the newest available annual assessment, which is often a year or more old.
• Waiting to take out insurance until the surplus is already missing. The voluntary sickness-benefit insurance has to be in place at least 6 months before the application to count.
• Confusing the income requirement with dagpenge's income requirement. The two schemes are administered separately and have different thresholds and purposes — see the distinction above.
• Applying too late. The 8-week application deadline after birth is real; a late application generally costs the earlier weeks.

Make Influence's perspective

Make Influence doesn't administer or advise on barselsdagpenge — that's a question between the individual creator and Udbetaling Danmark. What we see in practice is that self-employed creators with a growing influencer business rarely account for that growth working against them here: the faster revenue climbs, the greater the chance that the newest available annual assessment understates the actual surplus at the time of application. It's a calculation that's far easier to run while still planning a pregnancy than after the child is born.

FAQ

Do I need a CVR number to get barselsdagpenge as self-employed?

With a CVR number, you apply via NemRefusion. Without one, you contact Udbetaling Danmark directly — but the underlying assessment of whether your activity counts as a self-employed business at all is the same, see employee or self-employed?.

Is the DKK 264,420 income requirement the same as dagpenge's income requirement?

No. They're two separate schemes with different thresholds and purposes — dagpenge's income requirement (DKK 286,632 over 3 years) decides whether you're entitled to dagpenge at all, while barselsdagpenge's income requirement decides the size of the rate, not the entitlement itself. See does influencer income affect Danish unemployment benefits (dagpenge)? for the dagpenge side.

What if my business is run as an ApS instead of a sole proprietorship?

The business structure doesn't directly change the employment or income requirement for barselsdagpenge as self-employed — but if you run your business through an ApS, you typically draw a salary from the company and may instead fall under employee rules rather than self-employed ones. See ApS or enkeltmandsvirksomhed for the difference, and confirm your specific situation with Udbetaling Danmark.

Do gifts and products I receive as an influencer count toward my surplus?

Yes — products taxed as payment for a service are included in the business's turnover and therefore its surplus, the same way a cash payment would be. See Skattestyrelsen's 2026 crackdown on gifted products for the distinction between a gift and payment.

Does barselsdagpenge resolve what happens to my brand collaborations during the leave?

No. Barselsdagpenge is public income compensation and has nothing to do with the individual brand collaboration's deliverables, payment or exclusivity period — the contract has to regulate that itself. See what happens to an influencer contract when the creator goes on parental leave or takes an extended break? for the contract side.

Can I combine employee work and my own business to meet the employment requirement?

The employment requirement for barselsdagpenge as self-employed is specifically about work in your own business. If you have a mix of employee work and a self-employed business, confirm directly with Udbetaling Danmark how your specific situation is assessed.