As the proportion of the older population (those aged 60 and over) keeps increasing quickly
in Vietnam, issues related to older individuals’ labor market behavior have drawn a great deal
of public attention. This paper aims to identify the determinants of the Vietnamese older people’s
decision to be active in the labor force. We used data from the Vietnam Aging Survey (VNAS) in
2011 - the first-ever nationally representative survey on older people - which comprised 2,789
respondents. We employed probit models and other statistical methods in order to ensure the
validity of the results. The paper demonstrated that various individual factors (such as age and
health status) and household-related factors (such as area of living) significantly contributed to
older people’s decision about participating in the labor force. More interestingly, the effects of the
above factors were statistically and significantly different for males and females and those living
in urban and rural areas. To reach ‘active ageing’ in terms of work and income security, Vietnam
should have some immediate and long-term solutions so to encourage the participation of older
people in the labor force and improve their health and living conditions.