Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Five-year Synthesis Report
Part 2: Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam
Duration of work 12 months/year 12 months/year 10-12
months/year
Income
Accommodation
Economic
contribution
5 -7 million
VND/month on
average
Rent a house,
meal on their
own
Saving of 2 - 3
million VND/
month
2.5 - 3.5 million
VND/month on
average
Rent a house,
meal on their
own
Little saving,
below 1 million
VND/month,
many don’t have
savings.
2.5 - 3
million VND/
month on
average
Covered by
employer
Saving of
2 - 3 million
VND/month
3-4 months/year
2.5 - 3 million
VND/month on
average
Covered by
employer
Saving of 2 - 3
million VND/
month
97
Women working away from home often save and remit more than men. Women
often save and spend less on social networking than men. Men working away from home
often spend more money on smoking, alcohol, coffee and networking.
Working away from home can reduce domestic violence. Migrant work reduces the
causes of domestic violence (such as gender biases, paternalism, economic difficulties,
lack of social and legal understanding). Working away from home provides women with
independence, so they have a greater role in the household, increasing their voice
and position. Working away from home can also be a solution for victims of domestic
violence.
Working away from home creates more work for those who stay at home, and
breaks the traditional gender division of labour. When men work away from home,
women do tasks traditionally undertaken by men. Similarly, when women work away from
home men do housework and take care of children. In some low-land villages in Thanh
Xuong - Dien Bien and Cu Hue - Dak Lak, young people are working away from home,
leading to shortage of labour during harvest season, so some people from neighbouring
villages come to work.
The “re-division of labour” between men and women and the lack of a young
workforce has affected local labour structures. At Duc Huong - Ha Tinh and Thuan
Hoa - Tra Vinh, the middle aged do farm and social work as the young tend to seek
work elsewhere. The elderly have less support than before, and often have to look after
grandchildren. In Duc Huong - Ha Tinh, many women attend village meetings (70% or
more) because men are working away from home. In Thuan Hoa - Tra Vinh, in high
harvest season, it is difficult to find labourers, so wages are often double the normal rate.
Risks faced by migrant workers
In ethnic minority mountainous areas, migrant workers face a number of risks.
As migrant workers from ethnic minority communities don’t have access to an extensive
social network or information as to where to find employment many depend on unknown
employment brokers. As a result they often work in unsafe conditions, some have been
cheated of their wages, others “sold” for work in brothels and even to China, and others
work illegally (logging, for example). Of those able to return home, some have had to
pay a “ransom”. Such experiences naturally discourages others from migrating in search
of work.
People working away from home in the informal sector do not have access to
social security. Workers in the informal sector have no contracts, and do not have
access to social insurance or health insurance. Migrants have limited support, and often