Youth and Development: Preliminary Findings from the Round 4 Survey in Vietnam

This fact sheet presents preliminary findings from the fourth round of data collection carried out by Young Lives in Viet Nam in late 2013. It reports on outcomes for the Older Cohort in terms of education, employment and marriage, showing clearly how young people’s opportunities in life are influenced by household wealth level and background circumstances. Almost half of the young people were still in education (16% combining this with work) and a third had left school and started work. Just 6% of the sample are not studying, working or married.  A sixth of the sample children had started post-secondary education or vocational training and almost a fifth had started university, although young people from economically and socially disadvantaged groups were more likely to have left full-time education, many without completing secondary-level school. By the age of 19, almost 20% of the girls were married and 74 girls and 12 boys already had a child of their own. Early marriage and child-bearing was most common for girls in rural areas, from poor or ethnic minority households.