In the morning of July 6th, the General Statistics Office (GSO) held a press conference to announce the report on labor and employment situation in the second quarter and six months of 2021 and the results of the of the Household Living Standards Survey 2020. Mr. Nguyen Trung Tien – Deputy General Director of GSO chaired the press conference. Delegates attending this event were Ms. Valentina Barcucci – Deputy General, International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office in Viet Nam; representatives of ministries and agencies; departments of GSO and press agencies in Hanoi. The press conference was connected online at the bridge points of some Province Statistics Office.
At the press conference, GSO announced labor and employment data in the second quarter and six months of 2021; report on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the labor and employment situation in Vietnam and report on the results of the Household Living Standards Survey 2020.
According to the report on labor and employment, the 4th Covid-19 wave from the end of April jeopardized the momentum of job recovery and workers’ income improvement in the second quarter. Accordingly, in the second quarter of 2021, there were 12.8 million people aged 15 and over negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those who lost their jobs, got furloughed, worked alternate shifts, reduced working hours, reduced income, etc; the labour force aged 15 and over reached 51.1 million people, an increase of 44.7 thousand people compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 1.7 million people compared to the same period last year, in which the labor force in urban areas increased by 355 thousand people and increased by more than 1 million people; male labor force increased by 36.3 thousand people compared to the previous quarter; the female labor force increased by more than 1.3 million people over the same period in 2020.
The number of employed population at 15 year of age and over in the second quarter of 2021 was 49.9 million people, down 65 thousand people compared to the previous quarter and up nearly 1.8 million people over the same period last year. In which, employed workers in rural areas were 31.8 million; female workers were 23.4 million people.
The rate of informal employment in the second quarter of 2021 was 57.4%, the highest in the past 3 years. The rate of informal employment in urban areas is 48.6%; the rural area is 64.5%.
The whole country currently has 4.2 million people aged 15 and over who are subsistence workers in the AFF sector (an increase of nearly 0.6 million people compared to the previous quarter and 0.5 million people compared to the same period last year), mainly increased in rural areas.
The underemployment rate of aged workers in the second quarter of 2021 was 2.60%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 0.38 percentage points over the same period last year.
The unemployment rate of working age in the second quarter of 2021 was 2.62%, up 0.2 percentage points over the previous quarter and down 0.23 percentage points over the same period last year. The unemployment rate in urban areas was 3.36%, up 0.17 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 0.95 percentage points from the same period last year.
The earnings of employees (waged workers) in the second quarter of 2021 reached 6.8 million VND, a decrease of 411 thousand VND compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 455 thousand VND compared to the same period last year. The average monthly earnings of male employees were 7.3 million VND; female workers is 6.2 million VND.
In conclusion, the findings on the labour and employment situation in the second quarter of 2021 have reflected the difficulties and fluctuations of the country’s economy in general and labour market in particular over the past months. These difficulties pose a great challenge to the Government’s efforts in striving to successfully accomplish the dual goal: both economic development and victory over the pandemic. In light of this situation, the General Statistics Office hereby proposes a number of solutions to address difficulties for the labour market in the context where the pandemic is still getting complicated and unpredictable. These proposed solutions include:
– Continue to consistently implement the dual goal, both taking bold actions to effectively prevent and control the pandemic and addressing difficulties for the business community and workers. Accelerate the vaccination to achieve herd immunity, especially with priority given to frontline workers, workers in industrial parks and export processing zones to maintain production operations and prevent interruption in the global value chain.
– Implement effectively 12 support policies for workers and employers experiencing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the spirit of the Resolution 68/NQ-CP dated July 1, 2021. Priority should be given to the effective implementation of support policies for workers suffering temporary contract suspension, furlough and termination; and providing training support to stay in employment for workers.
– Design programs and policies to encourage youth and young workers, especially those not in employment, education or training to actively study and obtain their qualifications to be ready to participate in the labour market bringing along with them the necessary skills in response to the requirements of the economy in the era of IR4.0.
– Enhance the role of Employment Service Centres across the country in order to strengthen the linkage between labour supply and demand, create confidence for workers about job opportunities, shorten the job-finding time for workers and recruitment and selection time for employers, increase the labour force participation rate, and contribute to economic growth and create jobs for workers.
– Provided targeted support to disadvantaged groups in society (labourers, small traders, informal workers, etc.) because these are particularly vulnerable groups when social distancing measures are in place, with various forms of practical assistance; to minimize negative social impacts (i.e., social evils and thefts,…).
Also at the press conference, GSO announced the results of the Household Living Standards Survey 2020, including some key results as follows: (1) Monthly average income per capital nationwide in 2020 at current prices is about 4.2 million VND, down about 1% as compared to 2019; (2) The average household expenditure of the whole country in 2020 is 2.89 million VND/person/month, up 13% compared to 2018; (3) Consumption of food and food tends to gradually decrease the consumption of starch, the average amount of rice consumed per person per month gradually decreases over the years, from 9.7 kg/person/month in 2010 to 8.1 kg/person/month in 2018 and only 7.6 kg/person/month in 2020; (4) The average household size in 2020 is 3.6 people/household. The average population of poor households is higher than that of rich households, the average number of people per household of the poorest household group (group 1) is 4 people, 1.2 times higher than that of the richest group of households (group 5); (5) The dependency ratio in 2020 is 0.69, the dependency ratio of the poorest quintile is 0.96, 2.1 times higher than that of the richest quintile (0.46); dependency ratio of households in rural areas is higher than in urban areas (0.73 compare to 0.64); (6) In 2020, 14.9% of the population aged 15 and over have no degree or have never attended school, a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to 2018; 20.1% graduated from primary school; 28.5% graduated from secondary school; 17.2% graduated from high school; 19.3% have vocational or college or university degrees or higher; (7) There will be 35.7% medical examination and treatment of the population in 2020, of which 33.87% are outpatients and 7.1% inpatients. Average expenditure per person with medical examination and treatment is about 3 million VND; (8) In 2020, there will be 53.4% of the population aged 15 years and over with the main job as an employee or hired worker, the average number of working hours per person aged 15 years and over in 1 week of the main job in 2020 is 36.9 hours; (9) The percentage of households with hygienic water source in 2020 is 97.4%, an increase of 6.9 percentage points compared to 2010; (10) In 2020, the percentage of households using electricity for daily life will reach 99.5%; (11) Across the country, 99.9% of households have durable goods, the average value of durable goods per household is nearly 88 million VND; (12) The percentage of households living in permanent and semi-permanent houses is up to 95.6%; (13) The rate of poor households with multidimensional approach in the whole country in 2020 is 4.8%, down by 0.9 percentage points compared to 2019, of which 7.1% is rural, 1.1 %; (14) Vietnam’s GINI coefficient (by income) in 2020 is 0.375, lower than the GINI in the 2014-2018 period at 0.4, but still at the average level of inequality. The level of inequality is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
In 2020, the socio-economic situation of our country takes place in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic facing many difficulties and challenges due to both fighting the epidemic and ensuring socio-economic development. Although the population’s income has decreased compared to 2019, the poverty rate still decreases due to the Government’s good implementation of social security policies. However, there are still disparities in living standards between urban and rural areas, between rich and poor populations, and between regions. This is an issue that requires policy makers to continue to pay attention.