In many parts of Asia, rural-urban migration is increasing, including large
numbers of temporary migrants, and large numbers of female migrants (Guest, 2003).
Vietnam is not an exception. Vietnamese official data show that, during the period
1999-2004, the urban population grew by 20.2 percent or 3.7 million persons, to which
rural-urban migration contributed about 35 percent (General Statistical Office (GSO),
2007).
Vietnam’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) fell sharply between 1989 and 1999, but
only gradually since then. Considering rural and urban areas, rural fertility continued to
decline, but slowly, while urban fertility was stalled during the period 1999-2004. It is
surprising that, during this period, while rural fertility continued to decrease from 2.6 to
2.4 children, urban fertility had slightly increased from 1.7 to 1.9 children (Table 1).