According to Vietnam Social Security, in 2023, the whole country will have more than 1.5 million people participating in voluntary social insurance (an increase of 8.95% compared to 2022). However, overall, the number of people participating in voluntary social insurance is still low.

For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, as of June 2024, only 39,043 people participated in voluntary social insurance, reaching 0.83% of the working-age workforce.

The main reason is that workers are not interested in the social insurance regimes they will receive when they retire. Meanwhile, the policy on voluntary social insurance and the level of support from the State is still low, so it has not attracted many participants.

Recently, voters in Can Tho City proposed to increase the level of support so that farmers and freelance workers have more opportunities to participate in social insurance. According to voters, in the city, most farmer members participate in health insurance, while more than 5% of members participate in voluntary social insurance, which has met and exceeded the target. However, there are still thousands of workers and farmers who have not participated in voluntary social insurance.

This situation will make life difficult for the people and create a huge burden on the budget when implementing social security policies in the future. Because thousands of these people, when they reach retirement age, will not have a pension to stabilize their lives.

Buddhist Monks (23).jpg (Chi Hieu)
The policy on voluntary social insurance, the support level is still low, so it has not attracted many participants. Illustration photo: Chi Hieu,

The most basic reason is that the subjects participating in voluntary social insurance are mostly freelance workers and farmers, so their income is low, unstable, and their lives are still full of difficulties.

However, the current social insurance contribution support rate for poor households is 30%, near-poor households is 25%, and other subjects are 10%, while the basic salary increase is 30%, applied from July 1, 2024, causing the social insurance contribution rate to increase, further affecting the meager income of farmers and freelancers.

Therefore, voters of Can Tho city proposed to increase the support level, so that farmers and freelance workers have more opportunities to participate in social insurance, contributing to ensuring social security in the future.

Encourage support for social insurance contributions for voluntary social insurance participants

Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that building a social security system that leaves no one behind is a consistent policy stated in Resolution No. 42/2023 of the Party Central Committee.

The goal is to develop a comprehensive social security system that is shared between the State, society, people and population groups, ensuring sustainability and social equity. Focus on developing a flexible, diverse, multi-layered, modern, internationally integrated social insurance system that covers the entire workforce; continue to reform and expand the social insurance system, create opportunities for participation and ensure legitimate rights for workers.

The policy of supporting social insurance contributions for employees participating in voluntary social insurance will be implemented from January 1, 2018 with the current support levels stipulated in Decree No. 134/2015, while encouraging agencies, organizations and individuals to support social insurance contributions for voluntary social insurance participants.

Resolution No. 28/2018 of the 12th Central Executive Committee on reforming social insurance policies also clearly states that there is appropriate support from the state budget for farmers, the poor, low-income people, and informal sector workers to participate in social insurance to expand social insurance coverage.

Recently, in Decision 717/2024 of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs was assigned to preside over the drafting of a decree on voluntary social insurance. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs noted the above recommendations during the drafting of the decree to be submitted to the Government in 2025.