Two months ago, Minh Tung called his cousin to help him find a cheap room to rent so he could return to Hanoi to work, after nearly four years of returning to his hometown.
Previously, Mr. Tung, 37 years old, from Quang Binh, and his wife were office workers in Hanoi, with a total income of about 20 million VND. After deducting living expenses and raising two small children, they saved more than 5 million VND per month.
But since the birth of the two children, Mr. Tung has always felt guilty about letting his children live in the cramped and stuffy city life. The father feels most guilty when taking his children through traffic jams during the hottest days in Hanoi.
They decided to return to their hometown to "live poor but happily". His wife, Nguyen Thi Hong, applied for a job at a company more than 20 km away from home, with a salary half that of the old company. Mr. Tung rented a space to open a rice trading agency.
There were three rice dealers in the village before. All of them were related to each other, so they only bought from acquaintances. His relatives also came to support him, but they mainly bought on credit. After four years of closing the dealer, he still hadn't collected all the money from selling rice.
Living near the beach, Mr. Tung opened a coffee shop, recruiting his wife, mother, sister, and cousin to work as waiters. After deducting all expenses, he still earned 500,000 VND a day. But the shop was only open for three months in the summer.
He followed his friend to work as a real estate broker. After a few months, Tung lost his job because the land fever passed quickly. For many months, the whole family only looked at Hong's salary of 5 million VND. The children grew up, not only playing, they had to study and eat more. Family conflicts arose from there.
"It's better to live in a cramped apartment than to have a difficult economy," he concluded.
The man left his wife and children in his hometown and went to the city alone to earn a living. Currently, Mr. Tung started his days in Hanoi as a taxi driver, with an unstable income but still enough to send back to his wife.
Ms. Thuy prepares goods in her rented room in Bien Hoa, Dong Nai, on the afternoon of April 17 to prepare to sell the next morning. Photo provided by the character
When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Le Thi Thuy, 42, and her husband from Thanh Hoa decided to return to their hometown, ending their life as street vendors in Bien Hoa, Dong Nai. They told each other that this time they were determined to stay in their hometown because they were fed up with the life of living in a foreign land.
Her husband opened a duck restaurant in front of their house, but it rarely had any customers because the villagers only ate at home. Thuy worked in a garment factory, earning more than 4 million VND a month, while they had to support three young children and an elderly mother. After two years, she was fired because the company ran out of orders. They had to send their children back to the city after several months of struggling to find work.
The "second migration to the city" of people like Mr. Tung and Ms. Thuy is a new phenomenon because many people previously intended to return to their hometowns and did not return. For example, the survey report on the unskilled labor market after the social distancing period in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 recorded that 42% confirmed that they "will not return to the city".
In 2022, a survey by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and VCCI Ho Chi Minh City branch, with more than 1,000 workers in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City, showed that 15.5% chose to return to their hometown, while 44.6% were still hesitant.
But the PAPI 2023 report released by UNDP in early March this year showed that nearly 22% of people want to migrate to Ho Chi Minh City, 15% want to move to Hanoi. Two of the three biggest reasons people gave were wanting a better working environment (22%) and a better natural environment (17%).
Research team member Dr. Paul Schuler, University of Arizona, USA, said that the desire to move to big cities to find work is directly proportional to the increase in the number of people reporting poor or very poor household economic situation in 2023 compared to the survey from 2017 to 2022.
"What is of concern is that the proportion of people who rate their household economic situation more negatively than five years ago has increased to 26%, second only to 2021 at 29%," said Mr. Paul Schuler.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Loc, Institute of Social Life Research, said that this data shows that many people think about returning to their homeland but due to livelihood conditions, they have to leave again.
According to experts, Vietnam develops its economy according to a spearhead model, a key economy, and development resources are concentrated in urban areas, leading to a large gap between rural and urban areas. Although many people want to return to their hometowns, they cannot find jobs that match their abilities, expertise, interests, or living needs.
Young people can find jobs in factories, but it is very difficult for older people like Ms. Thuy to find suitable positions that generate income.
Sociologist Dr. Pham Quynh Huong believes that in addition to economic and educational factors, there are other factors such as urban services, culture and urban lifestyle, and urban civilization that make many people want to live in the city. Some people want to move to the city because they are not sure what they want or want to explore and test themselves in a different environment. "Some people realize their strengths in the city, but others realize they want to return to the countryside," Ms. Huong said.
Nguyen Van Truong, 28, and his wife from Hung Yen decided to return to their hometown three years ago to help their parents take care of more than 3 hectares of organically grown vegetables. Their income is stable so they are not under financial pressure, but they always feel sad and miss the vibrant life in Hanoi.
After staying in the countryside for more than a year, when his daughter was three years old, Truong decided to return to the city. In addition to his spiritual needs, he wanted his child to have a better educational environment and for the couple to also study to develop themselves.
A woman from another province sells goods on Tran Tu Binh Street, Cau Giay, Hanoi on the afternoon of April 19. Photo: Pham Nga
Mr. Loc believes that going to work in the city is a natural law. Whether you are a taxi driver, a street vendor or an office worker, everyone contributes to society. However, in the long run, workers flocking to urban areas to do informal jobs will create a large source of unstable labor, putting pressure on the social security system.
For those who want to return to the countryside but have to go to the city like Mr. Tung or Ms. Thuy, Mr. Loc advises to change their thinking about life. Nowadays, most people are influenced by the consumer wave, so they always feel deprived and get caught up in a spiral of competition. When we have a moderate mindset and know how to organize our livelihood, we may not be rich but we can still live on.
Ms. Quynh Huong believes that for those who want to stay in the countryside but move to the city, it is probably because they do not really understand their own needs. "Leaving is also a way to really understand what you want and need," she said.
In terms of policy, Mr. Loc suggested that Vietnam has 30 years of implementing key economic policies, it is time to build a more harmonious and balanced strategy between rural and urban areas to shorten the gap.
"Like China, in previous years they focused on urban areas, but in recent years they have shifted to compensate for rural areas, so that workers can return," he said.
Mr. Tung still yearns to return to his hometown. But after four years of struggling in his birthplace, he knows he needs to have capital to settle down long-term instead of just going back whenever he feels like it.
"It's really hard to be poor and happy," he said.
Pham Nga
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