Vietnam

Country context

Vietnam has a population of over 80 million people, more than a half of whom are under the age of 25. For most of these, living conditions have steadily improved over recent years. The national poverty level has decreased and now stands at 16 % according the World Bank (2008); maternal health figures have improved and already meet standards set by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals; and progress towards achieving universal primary education is well underway - enrolment rates are now as high as 97%. Much of this comes on the back of rapid economic growth. Between 1990 and 2004 Vietnam's growth rate averaged a high 7.5%. This is largely attributed to a major policy shift by the government. Since 'Doi Moi' (renovation) was introduced in 1986 following years of economic failure after reunification, Vietnam developed a multi-sector economy based on market principles and gradually began opening to foreign trade and investment. The country continued to boom and in 2006 Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation and approved a new Social Economic Development Plan (SEDP), affirming the vision of becoming a middle-income country by 2010.
Growth has been accompanied by high levels of government investment in social services such as health and education, continuing the ruling Communist Party’s strong historic track record in these sectors. Since 2000 investment in education has doubled. In 2004 it represented over 17% of total public expenditure, equivalent to more than 3% of GDP. By 2007 it represented approximately 4% of GDP The health budget has also been increasing, although more slowly (from 4.2% in 2001 to 5,5 % of total public expenditure in 2005). Food production has shot up as a result of land distribution and Vietnam has gone from being barely a subsistence economy to the world's second largest rice exporter. Despite these successes, however, not everyone have benefited equally from growth. Inequalities between the rich and the poor are widening in Vietnam, with poverty and its effects increasingly concentrated in rural areas and among ethnic minority groups. Stark differences between wealth and consumption are evident, with the ethnic majority almost twice better off than ethnic minorities and rural children much more likely to be poor than their urban counterparts. There is a high rate of migration to the cities and this is a major feature of the current rapid economic growth with important implications for policy.

Children’s situation

Vietnam has achieved impressive progress in improving child outcomes. Young Lives analysis to date confirms how overall, children’s situation has been improving as Vietnam’s economy grows and poverty falls. Poverty levels and maternal health figures already meet the standards set by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and progress towards achieving the education goal is well underway.

Overall literacy and school enrolment rates are high for a low income country. Improving quality and reducing inequality in access are important with our research showing disparities effecting learning outcomes.

Child mortality is reducing but progress may not be sufficient to meet the MDG target of a two thirds reduction by 2015. Vietnam currently has a high incidence of child malnutrition, with rates among Young Lives five year olds rising fourfold between 2002 and 2006 and rural children much more likely to be affected.

As Young Lives research highlights, the community a child is born into is one of the most important determinants of their subsequent well being. The greatest gap is between rural and urban areas, with inequities significant and persistent in nearly all the major child poverty indicators. Lower material wealth in rural areas is compounded by poorer access to electricity, safe water and sanitation. All these factors impact on child outcomes.

Ethnic minority children, most of whom live in remote mountainous regions which are not part of the mainstream cash economy, are increasingly likely to be poor in terms of both absolute and relative poverty.

In terms of schooling, discrepancies are just as apparent - amongst the H'Mong minority only 86% of school-age children are enrolled as compared to 97% nationally. Moreover, of the poorest 20% of the children sampled in Young Lives research, nearly one in four are malnourished, compared to less than 1 in 20 of the richest 20%.

Young Lives is investigating the impact on children of migration which is such a key feature of the current economic context in Vietnam. An increasing number of children are affected as families move to urban areas in search of work and better education or as the family breaks down with husbands and fathers moving to find work in far away cities leaving women and children in poor rural areas.

Why focus on children

While there have been many studies of poverty in Vietnam, little is understood about the extent and causes of childhood poverty or how poverty in childhood impacts on later life. Young Lives is examining in more detail than ever before the nature of child poverty, its causes, its effects and the ways it can be challenged. Through a mixture of surveys and in-depth methods with children, their caregivers and their communities, we are trying to build as complete a picture as possible of the lives poor children lead. The fact that our work spans 15 years in the lives of these children - covering all ages from birth into young adulthood - means that we are also able to examine how children change over time, whether growing up in rural or urban contexts, poor or not-so-poor areas, in large families or as migrants, and a variety of other factors.

This is helping us to offer a real contribution to policy-making in Vietnam. We can show not only why and how certain children manage to escape poverty traps while others do not, but also why and how certain policies make a difference while others fail to do so. In a country where persistent pockets of poverty remain despite progressive government policy, this is an invaluable contribution.

Young Lives in Vietnam

The 20 Young Lives study sites in Vietnam are located in communes of Lao Cai in the north-west, Hung Yen province in
the Red River Delta, the city of Danang on the coast, Phu Yen province from the South Central Coast and Ben Tre province
on the Mekong River Delta. Together, these five areas offer examples of different geographical regions, levels of development, urban/rural balance and population characteristics, including ethnicity, across Vietnam.

Larger map of Vietnam showing the names of all the provinces

Ben Tre is a typical agricultural province of the Mekong Delta region. It is prone to flooding and transportation is difficult. Farmers have limited land for cultivation and there is low level of education. To combat chronic poverty, there has been a shift from typical agricultural production to new industrial production. A recent development has been the growth of production of raw material for use in large industrial zone.

Danang City is one of five large cities in Vietnam, located in the central coast region. As the most urban of our research sites, it also has the highest levels of development. As well as high GDP, it has a high level of education. The region has received significant funds from government and foreign countries to invest in further development.

Hung Yen province is a lowland area in the Red River Delta region, close to the capital city, Hanoi. The economy depends mainly on agriculture, and the area is experiencing rapid urbanisation and infrastructure improvement which may result in a greater development of the market economy. Poverty levels are lower here than in other Young Lives regions.

Lao Cai province is located in the northern mountainous region and is the least developed area included in our study. Situated far from major urban areas, there is very poor infrastructure and the economy continues to be based predominantly on subsistence agriculture. This is reflected in the high levels of poverty (over 22%), while the area also has the highest proportion of ethnic minority groups.

Phu Yen province is situated in southern central coastal region of Vietnam and contains a mix of mountainous, coastal, and lowland areas. This province often suffers the effects of natural disasters, and has also borne the consequences of conflicts in the past. This has resulted in a weak infrastructure and relatively undeveloped economy that depends on agriculture and aquaculture.

Our work to date

The two rounds of data collection carried out by Young Lives in Vietnam in 2002 and 2006, surveyed two groups of children: 1,999 children aged between 6 and 18 months at the start of the project and 1,000 children aged between 7.5 and 8.5 years. The survey will be repeated again in 2009 when the younger children will be about 9 and the older cohort about 15 (so the younger children will be the same age as the older group when the research started). The final two rounds will take place in 2012 and in 2015.

Our findings to date highlight that while Vietnam's current focus on market-led export orientated growth has benefited many children in our sample, some children are being left behind. This is leading to inequalities which are likely to widen in the future. This means that as Vietnam's economic growth continues, pro-poor policies and those aimed at children need to be maintained, strengthened and better targeted.

We are working closely with the government to achieve this and will be focusing strongly on a number of key areas in the near future. These include investigations into the nature and quality of state education, the occurrence and impacts of child stunting, the prevalence and effect of child migration and the success or failure of specific (local and national level) government initiatives.

Our findings and data

Here you will find our latest country report and country report summary, offering a detailed overview of the initial trends emerging in Young Lives research to date:

Young Lives: Vietnam Round 2 Survey. Country Report. [September 2008. PDF 383 KB]
Young Lives: Vietnam Round 2 Survey. Summary report document [September 2008. PDF 63 KB]
Round 2 Initial Key Findings summary for Vietnam [September 2008. PDF 107 KB]

The first data and analysis gathered during 2001/2002 is also available here:
Vietnam: preliminary country report. 2003 [PDF 1799 KB]

Young Lives key team members in Vietnam

Policy Coordinator: Mai Thuy Hang, Save the Children UK

Principal Investigator:  Dr Le Thuc Duc, Centre for Analysis and Forecast, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (CAF/VASS)