'Wage reform must go hand in hand with social security policy'

According to Standing Secretary of the Party Central Committee Truong Thi Mai, salary reform must be linked with social insurance policies, health insurance, and subsidies for people with meritorious services...

"Salary reform is not only for the political system but also for pensioners, meritorious people and many other social security policies to improve and enhance people's lives," said Ms. Truong Thi Mai, Standing Member of the Secretariat, Head of the Central Organization Committee, at the Conference of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front on the morning of January 24.

Ms. Mai pointed out the reality that many people only need to suffer from a chronic or dangerous disease or an economic shock to "immediately fall into bankruptcy." Therefore, the wage reform policy must contribute to building a strong enough safety net to prevent people from falling below.

The Standing Secretariat said that currently only about 30% of the elderly participate in social insurance, so more than 60% of workers do not have a stable source of income when they reach old age. Meanwhile, social benefits, even though increased, are still very low. Ms. Mai said that social insurance and welfare policies must become pillars and be given attention so that tens of millions of people do not fall into economic exhaustion when they reach old age.

Standing member of the Secretariat and Head of the Central Organization Committee Truong Thi Mai spoke at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front on the morning of January 24. Photo: Hoang Phong — Standing member of the Secretariat and Head of the Central Organizing Committee Truong Thi Mai spoke at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front on the morning of January 24. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

The Standing Secretariat recalled that when the 2009 Health Insurance Law was first presented, in the Mekong Delta, more than 20% of the population participated in health insurance. At that time, near-poor households were supported by 75% to participate, but most of them did not have enough money to pay. Up to now, the level of support has increased along with changes in awareness, so the rate of people participating in health insurance has reached 90%. Thanks to that, when people are sick, health insurance will pay.

She said that it is necessary to set a target that by 2030, the poor and ethnic minorities can go directly to the central level for treatment and be paid by health insurance. "These are policies that need to be further improved. We need to gradually answer the question of whether health insurance participants can go to any level for treatment or not?", she said, suggesting that the Vietnam Fatherland Front stick to real life, create consensus and play a good role as a bridge between the Party and the people.

In November, the National Assembly passed a Resolution on the 2024 socio-economic development plan, which required the Government to review and improve wage policies, social insurance policies, and unemployment insurance policies in the direction of expanding coverage and developing participation. From mid-2024, civil servants and public employees nationwide will be paid according to their job positions instead of the current low, unmotivating wage policy.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has developed 6 specific contents of the new salary regime according to positions, titles, and job positions. Accordingly, there are 861 positions for cadres and civil servants, of which the leadership and management group has 137; the specialized professional civil servant group has 665; the shared professional professional civil servant group has 37; and the support and service group has 22 positions. There are 17 positions for commune-level cadres and civil servants, of which 11 are specialized cadre positions and 6 are commune civil servant positions.

The Government has tried to set aside salary funds, increase revenue and reduce expenditures. Up to now, there has been about 560,000 billion VND saved for salary reform from July 1, 2024 to the end of 2026.

Reporting at the Conference , Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said that in 2023, the policy for people with meritorious services will be fully and promptly implemented, ensuring social security and supporting people and businesses. People's lives will be improved, the average income of workers will reach 7.1 million VND per month, an increase of 6.9%. The poverty rate according to the multidimensional poverty standard will decrease by 1.1%, currently at 2.93%.

The shortage of medicines, equipment, medical supplies, and the quality of medical examination and treatment have been gradually overcome and improved. The unemployment rate in urban areas is about 2.76% (lower than the target set by the National Assembly of under 4%); policies and regimes to support workers, especially those who have lost their jobs or have reduced working hours, have been effectively implemented.

In 2024, the Government will prioritize promoting economic growth (6-6.5%), maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation (4-4.5%), cutting regular expenditures; continuing to implement the Project to build at least one million social housing apartments, completing at least 130,000 units in 2024.

The Government also urgently completed the construction of job positions, synchronously implemented salary policy reform according to Resolution No. 27 of the Central Committee from July 1; and reorganized administrative units at district and commune levels in the 2023-2030 period.

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