Ho Chi Minh City reduces more than 40% of poor and near-poor households

Significant reduction in the rate of poor and near-poor households

According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, at the beginning of 2023, the city had 39,381 poor and near-poor households with 155,764 people, accounting for 1.55% of the total number of households in the city.

Of which, poor households are 21,313 households with 83,106 people, accounting for 0.84% ​​of the city's total households; near-poor households are 18,068 households with 72,658 people, accounting for 0.71% of the city's total households.

By the end of 2023, the city will have 8,293 poor households, accounting for 0.33% of the city's total households, and 14,574 near-poor households, accounting for 0.57% of the city's total households. The total number of poor and near-poor households in the city is currently only 22,867, down 40% compared to the beginning of the year.

Mr. Le Van Thinh, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, said: "With this result, the city has completed the target of the Resolution of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress 2 years ahead of schedule."

According to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, in 2023, the Department advised the City People's Committee to issue a series of documents implementing solutions to effectively implement the sustainable poverty reduction program; mobilize maximum resources to achieve poverty reduction goals; promptly and fully implement policies to support poverty reduction, borrow capital to escape poverty, etc.

The total budget for implementing the city's 2023 Poverty Reduction Program is more than VND 10,229 billion; of which, the new supplement for 2023 is nearly VND 2,106 billion.

Mr. Le Van Thinh said he had completed the poverty reduction target 2 years ahead of schedule (Photo: Trinh Nguyen).

The city also implemented a series of social security programs to support poor and near-poor households, such as giving away more than 120,000 health insurance cards; building and repairing nearly 1,100 houses; supporting electricity bills for more than 63,000 people; supporting vocational training for nearly 1,200 workers; taking care of Tet 2023 for more than 103,000 poor households, near-poor households and households that have just escaped the near-poor household standard...

Ho Chi Minh City pays special attention to taking care of children from poor and near-poor households to access education. In 2023, the city exempted or reduced tuition fees for nearly 23,000 students; supported study costs for nearly 32,000 students; supported nearly 30 billion VND in scholarships for 15,860 poor students; supported 2.1 billion VND in meals for 1,528 preschool children...

The superiority of HCMC poverty standards

It is expected that in 2024, Ho Chi Minh City will mobilize resources to implement policies and solutions to support poverty reduction with a total implementation cost of more than VND 11,752 billion; of which, the new supplement for 2024 is more than VND 1,959 billion.

The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City continues to coordinate with relevant departments and branches to advise on the implementation of programs, policies and solutions to support poor households, near-poor households and households that have just escaped the near-poor household standard to contribute to improving and increasing income, reducing the shortage of basic social services and social security.

In the heart of the city there are still many poor households (Illustration: Hai Long).

In order for poverty reduction to be implemented stably in the 2021-2025 period, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City also proposed allowing Ho Chi Minh City to continue to maintain the city's multidimensional poverty standards for the 2021-2025 period and implement them until the end of 2025.

The reason is that the city's current poverty line is superior to the national poverty line for the 2022-2025 period.

Specifically, in terms of income, the national poverty line for the 2022-2025 period is 2 million VND/person/month for urban areas. Meanwhile, the city poverty line is up to 3 million VND/person/month and includes an additional dependent deprivation index.

Overall, the national multidimensional poverty standard includes income and 12 deprivation indicators. The city's multidimensional poverty standard has 10 deprivation indicators, of which 9 indicators are the same as the national standard. 3 indicators (hygienic toilets, use of telecommunication services, means of accessing information) are not implemented because these 3 indicators have been completed.

The city's multidimensional poverty line is higher than the national line in one deficiency indicator: social insurance (households with working-age people who are working and have income but do not participate in social insurance).

According to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, the social insurance shortage index shows superiority, consistent with the socio-economic situation and life of the city's people.

Lack of social insurance is a difficult indicator to implement in rural areas such as Can Gio, Cu Chi... because most workers are self-employed, do not participate in compulsory social insurance, and it is very difficult to mobilize them to participate in voluntary social insurance.

However, Ho Chi Minh City is still determined to complete this shortage index to ensure that people can escape poverty sustainably, and that all elderly people have pensions and enjoy their old age.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/tphcm-giam-hon-40-ho-ngheo-can-ngheo-20240120001912002.htm