Raising retirement age: which roadmap is suitable?

Teleconference on raising retirement age roadmap (Source: Vietnam+)

Hanoi (VNA) - Themed "Choosing a suitable roadmap for raising retirement age," a tele meeting organized by the Vietnam Social Security and Nhan Dan newspaper was held in Hanoi on May 21 to answer questions about the roadmap of raising retirement age, the specific time to start applying this roadmap, the right to retirement and provisions to create conditions for employees to exercise this right ...

Finding the right route

Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW states: "From 2021, adjusting the retirement age according to the goal of increasing the general retirement age, narrowing the gender gap in the retirement age regulations; to special occupations, employees are entitled to retire 5 years earlier or later than the general retirement age."

In this spirit, the adjustment of raising the retirement age also needs to match the size, structure, quality, health status and longevity of Vietnamese workers, avoiding sudden adjustments to excessive levels in the future to ensure socio-political stability.

Regarding retirement age regulations, according to a representative of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, from 2021, the retirement age will be adjusted according to the target of increasing the general retirement age.

The adjustment needs a long-term vision and a roadmap suitable to economic growth, job creation and unemployment. In particular, the plan must not cause negative impacts on the labor market, ensure the quantity, quality and population structure; gender equality; balance social insurance fund in the long term ...

According to Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep, the ministry has proposed a roadmap to increase by only three-month old each year, thus the flow of the labour market will slow down, not stuck.

The adjustment roadmap will create better psychology for the society, employers and employees.

“Certainly, employees will not want to work too long and pay long-term social insurance. Workers often want to retire or participate in other economic activities to get more income. At the time, they also have two sources of income, pensions from social insurance and the money received from their other activities. This is the common mentality of all workers in countries around the world, not only Vietnam. The adjustment according to the roadmap also creates better psychology for employers,” Diep said.

The retirement rate at the right age increases

Dieu Ba Duoc, Head of Social Insurance Policy Implementation (Vietnam Social Security), said that according to statistics of Vietnam Social Security, as of December 31, 2018, there were more than 2.5 million people enjoying pensions. In particular, more than 700,000 people receive a pension from the state budget and about 1.8 million people receive a pension from the Social Insurance Fund.

According to Mr. Duoc, in recent years, the proportion of people who retire at the right age has improved. In 2017, 64% of retire on the right age. By 2018, this percentage has increased to 70% of people on pension age.

Paying pension for retirees (Source: Vietnam+)

According to the roadmap to increase retirement age (62 years old for men, 60 years old for women), from 2021, there will be women who retire at 55 years and 3 months, until 2036 there will be the first woman to retire at age 60, 2029 will have the first man to retire at the age of 62. However, the adjustment has not yet received the consent of the direct production workers.

Le Dinh Quang, Deputy Head of the Labor Relations Department (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) emphasized that increasing the retirement age often has to look holistically at the national interest and can be handled in many ways. And if it is to get the opinions of the direct object - the employee, certainly not only in Vietnam but also in other countries there is no consensus in increasing the retirement age.

 “It is obvious that for the direct employees of specific occupations, it is difficult to secure the job when they reach the old age, so increasing the retirement age of this group of workers will increase the difficulty for them, ”said Le Dinh Quang,

He added that policies on job creation, job transfer, vocational training and social security should be considered and adjusted in a comprehensive way to minimize the negative impact of increasing retirement age./.