Promoting social welfare to ensure people's right to enjoy development achievements

As the country enters a new phase of development with intertwined opportunities and challenges, the continued promotion of social welfare policies to ensure the equitable enjoyment of development achievements by the people has become a strategic requirement.

This reflects the quality of national governance and the humane, superior nature of the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam.

Social welfare and people's right to enjoy

A significant policy shift was established at the 8th Central Committee Conference of the 13th Party Congress with Resolution No. 42-NQ/TW dated November 24, 2023. This resolution focuses on renewing and enhancing the quality of social policies in the new phase, transitioning from a "guarantee and stability" approach to "stability and development".

It places social policy within the broader framework of sustainable social development, linking social welfare with human security and social security. Based on this, the Government issued Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP on May 9, 2024, outlining the Action Program to implement Resolution No. 42-NQ/TW, detailing key goals, tasks, and solutions through 2030.

The 2013 Constitution enshrines the State's responsibility to develop the social welfare system and care for vulnerable groups, while establishing the State's role in creation, assurance, and coordination. It connects the State's responsibilities with families and society in enhancing people's welfare.

Building on the consistent perspective of the Party, affirmed at the 13th and most recently the 14th Congress, and concretized in Resolutions No. 42-NQ/TW and 68/NQ-CP, Vietnam is developing a comprehensive, inclusive, rights-based social welfare system comprising four core components: employment, minimum income assurance and poverty reduction; social insurance; social assistance; and basic social services.

Continuing to promote social welfare policies to ensure equitable enjoyment of development achievements by the people has become a strategic requirement. (Photo: Nhandan Newspaper)

In recent years, social welfare policies have been implemented relatively comprehensively, directly linked to ensuring human rights, citizens' rights, and the right to enjoy development achievements. In 2024, Vietnam was recognized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a country with a rapidly increasing Human Development Index (HDI), among the happiest in Asia, and one of the nations to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development goals early, including those directly related to ensuring human rights.

Employment and income continue to be identified as proactive pillars of the social welfare system, playing a decisive role in ensuring the right to work and the right to a minimum standard of living. By 2025, the national labor force is expected to reach approximately 53.1 million people; the unemployment rate among the working-age population is projected to decrease to 2.22% (2.39% in urban areas), indicating a fundamentally stable labor market.

The quality of human resources has improved, with about 70% of the workforce receiving training, of which 29.2% hold degrees or certificates; over 80% find employment after training. Additionally, programs for training human resources in new fields and preferential credit policies support hundreds of thousands of workers in maintaining livelihoods.

The average income in 2025 is projected to reach 8.31 million VND/month (an increase of 756,000 VND compared to the previous year), linked to wage reform and the completion of the labor market institution, ensuring the right to enjoy growth achievements. Notably, in 2025, 144,345 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad, including 48,784 women (111% of the plan), reaffirming this as a crucial channel for human resource development, promoting gender equality, and expanding the right to welfare in the integration process.

Poverty reduction continues to be a highlight, clearly reflecting the right to a minimum standard of living and access to basic social services. According to the multidimensional poverty standard for 2021-2025, the poverty rate decreased from 4.4% in 2021 to 1.93% in 2024, and is expected to be around 1.3% in 2025. Many particularly difficult communes and districts have escaped poverty; the percentage of communes meeting new rural standards is 79.3%, with 42.2% meeting advanced standards. Poverty reduction policies are implemented in a multidimensional manner, linked to livelihood creation, vocational training, and sending workers abroad, thereby ensuring the right to development and equal enjoyment for the poor.

Social insurance clearly affirms its role as a pillar in ensuring long-term welfare and realizing workers' welfare rights. The 2024 Social Insurance Law and its guiding decrees provide a legal foundation for building a multi-tiered, flexible, and inclusive social insurance system. By the end of 2025, it is estimated that over 21.34 million people will participate in social insurance, accounting for 45.04% of the working-age labor force; voluntary social insurance is rapidly increasing, with about 3.17 million participants, gradually expanding welfare access for farmers and informal sector workers.

Social insurance has clearly affirmed its role as a pillar in ensuring long-term welfare and realizing workers' welfare rights. (Photo: Nhandan Newspaper)

By the end of the third quarter of 2025, over 3.43 million people are receiving monthly pension and social insurance benefits, along with approximately 2.37 million people receiving social pension benefits, reflecting the increasingly substantive enjoyment of the system. Additionally, unemployment insurance continues to play its role as a "welfare cushion", contributing to the stability of workers' lives and the labor market.

Social assistance policies continue to be implemented with a human-centered approach, directly ensuring the right to assistance for citizens facing risks. During 2024-2025, the scope and level of support were expanded, with the standard social assistance level raised to 500,000 VND/person/month; the social work system is gradually being professionalized according to Decree No. 110/2024/NĐ-CP, contributing to enhancing the quality and timeliness of support. By 2025, it is estimated that about 4.5 million people will receive regular social assistance and social pension benefits, reflecting increasingly substantive coverage.

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In situations of natural disasters and epidemics, emergency social assistance mechanisms are promptly implemented; in 2025 alone, the Government provided 16,545 tons of rice to over 1 million citizens and mobilized over 2,300 billion VND to mitigate disaster impacts, ensuring the right to live safely and affirming the commitment to leave no one behind.

In education, the State maintains a minimum budget allocation of 20%, waiving tuition fees for preschool children, general education students, and learners in private and non-public educational institutions, laying the foundation for human resource development and ensuring the right to education from an early age. In healthcare, service quality and accessibility continue to improve, ensuring equity in health care; the health insurance coverage rate has exceeded 93% of the population, reflecting efforts to realize the goal of universal health insurance and the right to health care.

By 2025, social housing policy has achieved clear results, with over 334,000 houses newly built or repaired for people with meritorious services, poor and near-poor households, contributing to ensuring the right to safe housing. Culture and information continue to be prioritized for development, enhancing cultural enjoyment levels, especially for ethnic minorities, thereby affirming the right to equal access to basic social services as a core foundation of social welfare and sustainable development.

Promoting social welfare for sustainable development

The 14th Party Congress documents consistently reaffirm the view of placing people at the center, considering social welfare as the foundation of social stability and sustainable development.

Accordingly, social welfare must be designed and operated as a sustainable system capable of effectively responding both in normal conditions and emergencies; closely linked with livelihood creation, vocational training, human resource development, and social progress promotion. Vietnam continues to promote social welfare policies to ensure the right to enjoy development achievements by the people in the coming time, requiring the implementation of several synchronized solutions:

Firstly, ensure that every citizen has a minimum welfare support throughout their life. To achieve this, it is necessary to review, amend, and supplement legal regulations related to employment, minimum income assurance and poverty reduction, social insurance, social assistance, and basic social services in the spirit of Resolution No. 42-NQ/TW; address policy overlaps and fragmentation; enhance feasibility, consistency, and implementation effectiveness.

The focus is on expanding and consolidating social welfare coverage, especially for informal sector workers and vulnerable groups; promoting the development of voluntary social insurance, social pension benefits; gradually raising the standard social assistance level in line with budget balancing capabilities.

The 14th Party Congress documents consistently reaffirm the view of placing people at the center, considering social welfare as the foundation of social stability and sustainable development. (Photo: VnEconomy)

Secondly, enhance the quality and effectiveness of social welfare policy implementation to ensure substantive enjoyment. Shift the focus from expanding quantity to improving the quality of enjoyment; strengthen the connection between social welfare and sustainable employment creation, livelihood development, and enhancing people's self-reliance.

Assistance policies need to ensure a minimum standard of living while being designed to support development, linked to vocational training, job creation, and livelihood support, thereby enabling beneficiaries to rise independently, gradually reducing dependence on allowances and limiting a mindset of reliance.

Thirdly, accelerate digital transformation in managing and providing social welfare services, ensuring equal access to social welfare policies. Complete and synchronize the national social welfare database with the population database; expand cashless payments; simplify administrative procedures; enhance transparency and accessibility of policies for citizens, especially in remote and particularly difficult areas.

Fourthly, strengthen the mobilization and effective use of resources for social welfare. Besides the state budget, promote socialization, mobilize resources from businesses, communities, and international cooperation; simultaneously strengthen financial discipline, enhance resource utilization efficiency, and ensure the sustainability of social welfare funds.

Fifthly, enhance state governance capacity and accountability in the field of social welfare. Continue to streamline and professionalize the management apparatus; improve the capacity of social work and social welfare staff at all levels. Strengthen the supervision of the National Assembly, People's Councils, Vietnam Fatherland Front, and political-social organizations; promote the institutionalization of the right to participate of social organizations and enhance independent evaluation activities.

In the new development phase, promoting social welfare should be established as a strategic pillar of sustainable development, reflecting the level of social governance and the degree of human rights assurance by the State. Firmly placing people at the center, completing an inclusive, substantive, and sustainable social welfare system is a strong commitment of the socialist rule-of-law state of Vietnam in ensuring human rights, ensuring the right to equitable enjoyment of development achievements, and steadfastly pursuing the goal of leaving no one behind on the path of development.

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