This report for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Viet Nam follows up on their Policy
Dialogue Paper entitled 'Beyond HEPR: A Framework for an Integrated National System of Social
Security in Viet Nam' published last year, which put forward general principles for comprehensive social
security programmes in Viet Nam. This report is more empirical and uses recent household survey data from
the Viet Nam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) to examine who currently benefits from social
security programmes and their overall impact on incomes and poverty. This report is the first of two
complimentary reports, and looks at the whole population and the entire social security system. Its sister
report, 'The Relationship Between the Old Age and Poverty in Viet Nam', looks more specifically at the elderly
population.
Viet Nam is experiencing rapid economic growth with GDP increasing from 4.8 percent in 1999 to 7.7 percent
in 20041 Accompanying this growth have been large and impressive reductions in poverty rates: from 59
percent in 1993, to 29 percent 20022
.and to around 20 percent in 2004.
This introductory chapter looks at the current system of "social security" in Viet Nam and focuses on
provisions that were in place in 2004, the year of the VHLSS survey data that is later described in Chapter 1
and used for analysis throughout later chapters. Chapter 2 then assesses two fundamental questions: First,
"How important is social security for household welfare across regions, quintiles, and the urban-rural
continuum?", and second, "What are the redistributive consequences of social security?" Chapter 3 then
examines social security in relation to poverty and examines whether and to what extent Viet Nam's social
security programmes contribute to poverty reduction across regions, quintiles, and the urban-rural continuum.
Chapter 4 moves away from descriptive profiling of social security and makes some preliminary and tentative
analytical examinations of the behavioural consequences of social security. Last, Chapter 5 draws together
the findings of our research into a summary and conclusions.