Tiếng Việt
中文 (中国)
The latest revised draft of the Law on Social Insurance has a proposal to reduce the conditions for senior citizens in Vietnam to enjoy social pension benefits from 80 years old to 75 years old. Accordingly, if applied, what changes will this regulation create for Vietnam’s social insurance system and social security policy?
Currently, senior citizens aged 80 years or older who do not have a pension or other forms of social insurance benefits will be eligible to receive a social retirement allowance of VND 360,000/month provided by provinces level, paid by the local budget.
The draft revised Law on Social Insurance has been completed for the first time and is expected to be submitted to the Government in June, submitted to the National Assembly for discussion at the October 2023 session, and approved at the May meeting in 2024 and come into effect from January 1, 2025.
According to the latest amendment, the age eligible for social pension benefits will be reduced from 80 years old to 75 years old, while increasing the allowance from 360,000 VND/month to 500,000 VND/month. The proposal to reduce the age is made in accordance with the regulations on increasing or decreasing the age for receiving social pension benefits based on the State budget from time to time.
It is expected that an increase of VND 140,000 will significantly improve the living standards of the elderly and seniors who do not receive other social insurance benefits and social pension benefits.
In addition to the increase in benefits and decrease in age, the Draft also proposes that senior citizens in Vietnam who are eligible for social pension benefits will be granted a free health insurance card.
If the proposal is approved, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimates that 700,000 more senior citizens will be approved to enter the social safety net through the form of social pension benefits. However, this achievement is also accompanied by an increase in annual budget expenditure, which is expected to increase by about VND 7,100 billion per year from the reduction of age and the increase in allowance level.
Social pension policy
The agency that drafted the proposal to change the conditions for receiving social pension benefits said that reducing the retirement age helps senior citizens without other incomes have more money to improve their lives, contributing to completing the goal of the national safety net.
Currently, the social security coverage for senior citizens after retirement age of the whole country only reaches 35%, of which 2.7 million people receive pensions, 630,000 people receive monthly social insurance benefits and more than 1.8 million people receive social pension benefits.
Resolution 28 of the Central Government sets a target of 55% coverage by 2025 and about 60% by 2030. Accordingly, there is only more than 1 year left to 2025 but Vietnam still has 20% ratio to cover. This will prove to be a difficult math to solve for Vietnam when the number of senior workers and citizens after retirement age increases sharply each month as the average age of people increases, resulting from the advancement of science, technology and health.
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