A declining birthrate has posed several problems in recent years, but it appears to be improving now, even if it is not expected ever again to approach anywhere near the level of 96,000 born in the last year of the German occupation when Danes were exhorted in no uncertain terms to amuse themselves behind closed doors. Years ago most new Danes saw the first light of day in their parents' home. Nowadays almost all births take place in hospitals, and it has become increasingly common for the father to be present at the birth. If it is a little boy coming into the world, he can, if no deadly illness strikes, expect to live for 71 years, and if it is a girl, she can look forward to re aching the age of 77. Those are the figures for the Danes' average life expectancy.
Someone has yet to explain why girls in general are blessed with an extra span of life.
A lot of leisure hours are spent in front of the television. The overwhelming majority will be automatically enrolled in the state-supported National Church of Denmark, which is Evangelical Lutheran. But even if statistics record that 92 per cent of the population are members of the National Church, only around 4-5 per cent are found occupying church pews on a normal Sunday. Christmas Eve is the sole occasion, when priests can gaze out over a full church. Despite the fact that the Danish Jensens are not devout churchgoers, most see to it that their children are baptised in church and confirmed on reaching the age of 14.