Vietnam likely to raise retirement ages

Draft amendments to the Labor Code, including proposed hike in retirement ages, are schedule to be submitted to Vietnam’s National Assembly (ShutterStock image)

HANOI — The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has proposed raising retirement ages from the current 60 to 62 for men and from 55 to 60 for women from 2021.

Increasing retirement ages would ensure the balance of the timeframe, the social insurance employees’ payment, and the retirement or survivor pensions, the ministry said on Tuesday, citing calculations by the International Labor Organization that retirement and survivor funds would face overspending from 2023 in Vietnam.

To ensure the funds’ sustainable operation without raising retirement ages, either employees and employers will have to pay bigger social insurance or employees will receive smaller retirement pensions.

However, lifting the rates of social insurance employees’ and employers’ payments would increase financial burden for them and decrease business competitiveness, while slashing retirement benefits would negatively affect pensioners’ life, said the ministry.

Draft amendments to the Labor Code, including proposed hike in retirement ages, are scheduled to be submitted to Vietnam’s National Assembly, the country’s top legislature, in 2019.