Proposal to amend voluntary social insurance to suit women

Voluntary social insurance needs to be supplemented with services such as maternity, sickness, occupational diseases, etc. to meet the specific needs of women. This also helps women in the informal economic sector to participate in the social security system.

Female migrant workers at Long Bien market, Hanoi are looking at documents on health and law advice.

At the seminar, representatives of the Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) shared the results of the study “Social security for women and girls in Vietnam.” This is the first study in Vietnam on the impact of current forms of social security on women and girls.

This study shows that women's participation in the labor market has increased in recent years in Vietnam, but the proportion of women in the labor force is still lower than that of men. Women have to do more precarious and vulnerable jobs. The average monthly wage gap of women is 0.83 lower than that of men.

In particular, in the informal economy, the number of female workers participating in social insurance is still low. The voluntary social insurance regime also does not have services to meet the specific needs of women such as maternity, illness, accidents, occupational diseases, etc. Therefore, women are facing many barriers when they want to participate in the social security system.

Speaking at the seminar, UN Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, emphasized that in the informal economy, without access to any form of social security, women will face more difficulties in life, especially for pregnant women and women with young children.

Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that gender mainstreaming in social security is the foundation for achieving full empowerment of women and girls. The Vietnamese Government has also affirmed the necessity of social security through Resolution No. 15/NQ/CP in 2012, demonstrating Vietnam's strong political commitment to economic development in parallel with social development.

Assessing the current social security system, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen commented: "In the context of Vietnam facing a decline in economic growth and increasingly complex impacts of climate change, gender mainstreaming has not been fully and effectively implemented in social security policies."

In the coming time, the social security system needs to strengthen basic social services to help vulnerable women access them more easily. Accordingly, social insurance regimes, health services, social assistance, poverty reduction policies, etc. will all have to take into account gender equality and increase access for women and girls.

According to Vietnam+