According to Article 14 of the Draft Law, the elderly can access loans to create jobs for themselves, maintain or expand existing work from loans to solve employment.
The elderly can also receive training and development support to improve their vocational skills if they have a need to continue participating in the labor market.
This draft Law also provides a longer-term orientation when emphasizing that the State will have policies to support employment, retraining or job conversion for the elderly in the context of population aging, depending on socio-economic conditions and the ability to balance the budget.
It is noted that many elderly people were happy and supported the proposal.
Without pensions or subsidies, many elderly people still make a living every day even though they are over 60 years old. Mr. Pham Van Quang (67 years old, Nam Dinh) is a typical example.
Mr. Quang said that since his health declined, he always felt like a burden to his children.
"All of my daily living expenses depend on my children, and I worry even more every time I get sick and go to the hospital. Worrying about illness is less, worrying about expending money, affecting the children's work is more" - Mr. Quang said.
Mr. Quang had previously applied to be a security guard but no one accepted. Most of the recruiters were worried that his age and health would not be enough to ensure the job.
To earn more income, Mr. Quang received fabric flowers to work at home. However, this job only brings in an income of a few hundred thousand dong/month, after nearly 2 years, the supplier no longer needs it, making Mr. Quang even more pressured.
Sharing about his career aspirations, Mr. Quang said that he wanted to work lightly, with an unnecessarily high income, but he had to be stable and flexible during his work.
"I hope that many local social organizations will support suitable work for the elderly. Income is only about 2 million VND/month but must be stable and easy to take leave if sick or have personal work" - Mr. Quang expressed his opinion.
At the age of 57, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhan (Nam Dinh) still taskily wakes up at 4am with her husband to move goods to the market to sell every day. It is hard work, but according to Ms. Nhan, the profit is not much, only 3 million VND per month.
With 3 million VND from the business, Ms. Nhan said that she had to save as much as possible to be enough for the couple, not have to borrow. Every month, she helps out with less or more meals, Ms. Nhan shared, and her children still have to support them with an additional 500,000 VND to 1 million VND.
Ms. Nhan has repeatedly asked and applied to companies for additional jobs such as picking up directions, spreading fabric or cleaning, but has been refused. The reason is that companies still prioritize younger people to ensure work efficiency.
Sharing about the policy to support employment for the elderly, Ms. Nhan hopes the policy will be implemented soon, while implementing it comprehensively and practically.
I hope to borrow capital with an interest rate of less than 3%/year to feel secure importing goods and opening a store at my own house. If the interest rate is high, I am afraid that after deducting expenses, there will not be many more profits" - Ms. Nhan said.
Ms. Nhan also hopes that the State will research and support businesses to create many jobs suitable for the elderly. In which, Ms. Nhan emphasized that manual work, not taking too much importance to health, can be done by anyone.
