Publication Information
Vietnam has achieved impressive poverty reduction, with the poverty rate falling from 58 per cent in the early 1990s to less than 10 per cent by 2010 (World Bank 2012). However, the poverty line used by government to calculate poverty rates is based on an income definition which has a number of limitations, primarily that it does not count everything that affects the quality of people’s lives, especially access to services. Without access to basic services, households just above the poverty line are more likely to fall back into poverty.
Vietnam has achieved impressive poverty reduction, with the poverty rate falling from 58 per cent in the early 1990s to less than 10 per cent by 2010 (World Bank 2012). However, the poverty line used by government to calculate poverty rates is based on an income definition which has a number of limitations, primarily that it does not count everything that affects the quality of people’s lives, especially access to services. Without access to basic services, households just above the poverty line are more likely to fall back into poverty.