7.5% salary increase still cannot ensure minimum living needs

The average salary in 2016 is estimated at 5.71 million VND/month, an increase of 7.5% compared to 2015. However, the salary still does not meet the minimum living needs of workers and their families. This will be a challenge for economic growth, increasing labor productivity...

Giving opinions on the assessment of the results of socio-economic tasks in 2016 and the first 4 months of 2017, the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs presented many figures on labor, employment, and wages.

According to statistics, the total number of workers aged 15 and over working in the economy is estimated at 53.3 million, an increase of 451,000 people compared to 2015. Of which, workers in the agricultural sector account for nearly 42%; the industrial sector accounts for 24.7%; and the service sector accounts for 33.4%.

The number of workers working in urban areas accounts for 31.9% (31% in 2015) and in rural areas accounts for 68.1% (69% in 2015). The Committee for Social Affairs assessed that the shift in labor structure has not been promoted, and has not created a clear change in the process of shifting labor to economic sectors with high added value.

In 2016, 126,000 Vietnamese workers went to work abroad under contracts, exceeding the set plan. The number of foreign workers working in Vietnam is more than 83,500 people.

Some salary policies take effect from January 1, 2017 (Graphics: Vu Toan)

The unemployment rate and the underemployment rate among working-age people are estimated at 2.30% and 1.64%, respectively. Of which, the urban unemployment rate is more than 3%.

The issue of concern is that the unemployment rate of young people (aged 15 - 24) tends to increase, estimated at 7.34% in 2016 (2015: 7.03%; 2014: 6.26%).

Social labor productivity in 2016 is estimated at 84.5 million VND/worker, an increase of 5.3% compared to 2015. This figure is assessed to continue to have significant improvement, increasing steadily over the years but is still low compared to labor productivity of ASEAN countries.

In contrast to these positive figures, the targets on wages and insurance for workers make the Social Affairs Committee concerned.

Specifically, as of December 31, 2016, the total number of social insurance (SI) participants was only 24.5% of the workforce and unemployment insurance (UI) was 20.75%, which is a challenge to the goal of expanding the coverage by 2020.

According to the reporting agency, the issue that needs attention is the high number of enterprises owing social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance, especially the situation where business owners have embezzled social insurance and workers' salaries and absconded, so the social security rights of workers are not guaranteed.

The average salary in 2016 is estimated at 5.71 million VND/month, an increase of 7.5% compared to 2015 (5.28 million VND/month).

The main reason for the increase is the adjustment of the regional minimum wage in 2016. However, the Committee for Social Affairs believes that wages still do not meet the minimum living needs of workers and their families. This will be a challenge for economic growth, increasing labor productivity, business competitiveness and protecting jobs for workers.

In the first quarter of 2017, indicators on labor-employment and labor productivity remained stable; labor in industrial parks, export processing zones and urban areas tended to increase compared to the same period in 2016; the number of people participating in compulsory social insurance increased by 7.4%, unemployment insurance increased by 7.7%, and voluntary social insurance increased by 17.6% compared to the same period in 2016.

The Committee on Social Affairs raised a number of issues of concern, such as the increasing trend of unemployment and underemployment among young workers with technical expertise; labor-intensive industries in the textile, footwear and leather industries; and widespread unemployment among those aged 35-40.

Social insurance debt has not been effectively controlled, reaching over 14,000 billion VND by March 31, 2017. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits increased by 17% compared to the same period last year, which is not a good sign. The trend of receiving one-time social insurance payments is increasing, with workers wanting to retire early or retire before 2018 to avoid a decrease in pensions due to new regulations of the Social Insurance Law.

In the field of health and population, the Committee for Social Affairs summarized that the total fertility rate is estimated at 2.09 children/woman, continuing to maintain the replacement level, but the gender imbalance at birth is high (112.2 males/100 females); solutions to reduce the gender imbalance at birth are uneven and have not achieved the desired results.

Vietnam is considered one of the 10 countries with the fastest aging population in the world and has taken initial steps to adapt to this situation. The average life expectancy is estimated at 73.4 years (70.8 years for men and 76.1 years for women), but the healthy life expectancy is only 66 years.

The Committee for Social Affairs also pointed out that many cases of domestic violence are only discovered when the consequences are very serious due to difficulties in obtaining information and implementing timely support and handling measures. There is a lack of statistics on forms of violence and specific assessments of the causes of domestic violence. The implementation of the annual reporting regime according to Clause 5, Article 35 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence in localities is not serious.

According to Dan Tri