Elderly people in Vietnam: social protection, informal support and poverty

This article explores social protection in Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the best-performing countries in terms of combining rapid economic growth, rapidly falling poverty and a commitment to social protection. It is keen not to repeat the mistakes of increased inequality and rural instability that have plagued its neighbour China and deserves more coverage by, and attention from, European policy analysts. This article summarises research on elderly people undertaken for the United Nations Development Programme in Hanoi using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey. We show that social protection for elderly people in Vietnam is currently patchy, with state transfers tending to reinforce patterns of inequality. These transfers are currently disproportionately captured by those who already relatively well off: those in formal sector employment, the better educated, those living in urban areas and state employees. Those people most likely to be poor, including the minority ethnic population, are among the least likely to be in receipt of state support. Elderly people in this group are largely dependent on income from their own labour and from familial transfers. While the government is committed to extending the coverage of social protection, progress towards a universal and comprehensive system is likely to be slow, given current financial and information constraints and existing commitments to paying the pensions of old cadres now reaching retirement.