Difficulties facing migrant female workers: survey

Female labourers working in the foreign—invested (FDI) sector received an average monthly wage of 5 million VND (233 USD), below that received by the opposite sex and their peers working for domestic companies.
Female labourers working in the foreign—invested (FDI) sector received an average monthly wage of 5 million VND (233 USD), below that received by the opposite sex and their peers working for domestic companies.

The finding was unveiled at a workshop held in southern Dong Nai province on June 3 which reviewed the outcomes of a survey on income and living standards of migrant female workers.

The poll was conducted in northern Bac Ninh province, southern Dong Nai province and Ho Chi Minh City since late 2014. In each locality, the research team questioned 13 exporters to the EU operating in apparel, fisheries, footwear and food processing.

According to the survey, access to safety equipment for women working for FDI companies was 10 percent lower than those for local female workers.

The migrant group also faced difficulties in finding housing, educating children and accessing health services due to problems with personal finances, official procedures and distance from their work place to those facilities. Particularly, 69.1 percent of the group had trouble looking for schools and kindergartens, compared to only 3.7 percent among their peers working outside the FDI sector and 1.1 percent with the locals.

Hoang Thi Thu Hai, a representative from the management board of Bac Ninh’s industrial parks, revealed that there are currently 130,000 women among 189,000 labourers working across her province.

The Government should invest in developing social infrastructure such as kindergartens, schools and social housing near industrial zones to improve the living conditions of the migrant female workers, she proposed.

Meanwhile, Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the HCM City Centre for Human Resources and Labour Market Information revealed there are 890,000 female workers in the city, and in the next ten years the city will demand an additional 270,000 labourers, half of which will be women.

The expansion of programmes facilitating migrant access to bank loans will be very helpful, he continued.

At the workshop, Dr Bui Sy Tuan from the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs suggested establishing additional support centres, improving the quality of local vocational training courses and completing relevant regulations that ensure the rights of the vulnerable community.-VNA

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