According to current regulations, people aged 80 are entitled to receive monthly pension benefits (VND 360,000/month). However, in order to ensure the lives of the elderly, the draft revised Social Insurance Law proposes to reduce the age of receiving monthly pension benefits.
Specifically, the draft revised Law on Social Insurance stipulates that Vietnamese citizens aged 75 and over who do not have pensions, monthly social insurance benefits and other monthly social benefits will receive social retirement benefits guaranteed by the State budget.
The monthly social pension allowance level is prescribed by the Government in accordance with socio-economic development conditions and the capacity of the State budget at each period.
The State encourages localities, depending on their socio-economic conditions and budget balance capabilities, to mobilize social resources to provide additional support for social pension beneficiaries.
The draft Law also assigns the Government to report to the National Assembly to decide on gradually reducing the age of receiving social pension benefits in accordance with the capacity of the state budget in each period.
Reducing the age for receiving social pension benefits from 80 to 75 will help expand the beneficiaries of social pension benefits by about 800,000 elderly people receiving social pension benefits and health insurance.
Seniors need support
The addition of regulations on retirement and social benefits to form a multi-layered social insurance system demonstrates the humanity and responsibility of the State in ensuring social security for the elderly.
However, there are opinions that social pension benefits are not linked to the obligation to pay and the age of receiving social pension benefits is gradually reduced as in the draft revised Social Insurance Law, which may affect the policy of developing social insurance participants, as well as affecting the goal of limiting one-time withdrawal of social insurance.
This may lead to the mentality that workers do not need to participate in social insurance or do not need to maintain social insurance contributions to enjoy retirement benefits, and when they reach 75 years old (as proposed in the draft), they will still receive social pension benefits.
Regarding this issue, speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Bui Sy Loi, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs analyzed: "Social insurance follows the mechanism of contribution and benefit, but in a civilized and good society, the elderly without pensions need to be supported to ensure that the disadvantaged are supported."
Therefore, pension benefits are for the elderly to receive a subsidy to help improve their lives and contribute to ensuring social security.
The former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs also said that reducing the retirement age would make it difficult to balance the State budget. However, the timing needs to be calculated appropriately.
Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said that the adjustment to reduce the social pension age from 80 years old to 75 years old will depend on the socio-economic development situation and the State budget capacity.
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