This paper provides new empirical evidence on the impact of migration on migrant-sending households in Vietnam. Using data from the two most recent Vietnam Household and Living Standard Surveys, the paper estimates the impact of work migration and non-work migration on per capita income, per capita expenditures, poverty and inequality. It is found that both workmigration and non-work migration have a positive impact on per capita expenditures of migrant-sending households. However, the channels through which work migration and non-work migration increase expenditures are different. Work migration increases income remarkably,mainly through remittances, thereby raising expenditures of migrant-sending households. Non-work migration does not lead to a significant increase in income, and the increase in expenditures might result from an increase in households’ marginal propensity to consume due to household economies of scale. Because of the positive impact on expenditures, non-work migrationsignificantly decreases the incidence, depth and severity of national poverty. The effect of workmigration on poverty is much smaller. Still, while work migration does not lift people out of poverty, it makes their poverty less severe. In addition, both work migration and non-work migration decrease inequality, albeit only very slightly.