Proposal to raise retirement age
stirs controversy in Vietnam
A caricature
illustrating an 'opportunistic' public servant (lying on the table) that
takes up the space of more devoted people when the retirement age is raised.
A proposal by the labor
ministry to raise the retirement age in Vietnam has been met with a mixed
public reaction.
The
Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs recently published a draft
of its revised Labor Code which called for the legal retirement age to be raised from 55 to 60 for females and 60 to
62 for males.
Amidst
public backlash, the ministry justified the move as a countermeasure to
Vietnam’s aging population, a demographic which is threatening to empty the
coffers of the state social insurance fund.
According
to the Vietnam Social Insurance (VSA), in reality, the average retirement age
is about three years lower than the age stipulated by law, a situation
seemingly encouraged by current policies that allow a full pension for male
and female retirees who have bought social insurance for 30 and 25 years,
respectively.
This
policy means that, supposing a public worker starts their job at the age of
25, they can retire five years early and still receive a full monthly pension
equivalent to 75 percent of their monthly salary while on the job.
The
VSA argues that this policy discourages workers from contributing to the
social insurance fund until the legal retirement age and puts extra pressure
on the fund to cover early retirees.
The
government-run body also cited increased life expectancy and gender
inequality as an explanation for narrowing the gap in the retirement ages of
male and female workers to two years.
Le
Dinh Quang, deputy director of the Labor Relations Department at the Vietnam
General Confederation of Labor (VGCL), agreed with the proposal, saying a
raise in retirement age follows a global trend to make the best use of
experienced and capable personnel, especially in science and technology.
Critics
of the age raise seem to disagree with Quang’s line of logic, saying the root
of the problem does not lie in the retirement age but in current social
insurance policy loopholes.
Dang
Nhu Loi, former vice chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Social
Affairs, suggested adjustments to these policies to calculate a retiree’s
pension depending on the length of their participation in the national social
insurance program.
According
to Loi, the topic of raising the retirement age in Vietnam has been brought
up before, but has unfailingly been opposed by the majority of laborers who
would rather not work longer than required by law.
Meanwhile,
despite approving the idea of a raise, Le Dinh Quang disagrees with how the
revised Labor Code puts all male and female workers into only two categories
based solely on their gender.
He
says many other factors should be included in determining an individual’s
legal retirement age.
“People
working in different fields should have different retirement ages,” Quang
said, “especially those who work in factories and mines. How will they have
the health to work under such circumstances for so long if their retirement
age is raised?”
Lawyer
Dinh Cong Vinh from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association added that the
responsibility to administrate the social insurance fund so that it does not
run out of money lies with the government and that workers should not be made
to carry the burden.
TUOI TRE
NEWS
|
Thứ Năm, 13 tháng 10, 2016
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