This study investigates opportunities for children and its level of inequality in Vietnam
based on Human Opportunity Index (HOI) by using several rounds of Vietnam
Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS), especially VHLSS 2012. The paper updates
the standing status of 2012 of education and housing infrastructure opportunities as
well as examines a new indicator relating to healthcare service. Firstly, HOIs for almost
all opportunities exhibit improvements overtime with decreasing dissimilarities. Scale
effect takes the lead in driving the changes in these indices. In addition, Shapley
decomposition provides a common picture about the relative importance of each
circumstance in determining inequality of children opportunities, indicating that
education levels of household heads, well being and region circumstances are the most
crucial factors. The vulnerable profile is then concludes general characteristics of the
least vulnerable groups, which are living with less educated heads, being from a poor
households in rural areas and belonging to ethnic minorities. Finally, regional HOI
illustrates that access to sanitation reveals significant differences across regions as
observed in previous years.