Mr. Dang Van Tien (from Quang Trung ward, Thanh Hoa) left his hometown to work in Hanoi in 2011. After 14 years of living in Hanoi, Mr. Tien still only travels on an old motorbike, staying at a house with a fellow countryman and has no assets or valuable savings.
Mr. Tien said that in the past 14 years, he has changed jobs 3 times, his job only revolves around repair shops and phone spas. When he first came to work in Hanoi, Mr. Tien's salary was 5 million VND/month; now he is receiving a salary of 11 million VND/month, including lunch.
"11 million VND in salary, I pay for rent, dinner and electricity and water for about 5 million VND. Other expenses that cannot be deducted such as gas and phone bills also cost 1 million VND. The remaining 5 million VND, I gave my younger brother, a university student, 1 million VND; the young man was not married so he could not avoid having fun and drinking with friends on weekends. The monthly salary is almost the end of that month, there is no savings, said Mr. Tien.
According to Mr. Tien, if he wants to buy or repair any household items, he will borrow money from friends, then when he has a salary, he will pay and "sell" the remaining money himself. During the months of many holidays, holidays or work arising, he had to borrow more, waiting for the month's salary to repay the debt.
Not yet married like Mr. Tien, Ms. Bui Thi Hanh (from Ninh Binh province) is currently renting a room in Residential Group No. 3, Ha Dong Ward (Hanoi) and working as a worker at a banh mi and cake factory in Thanh Liet Ward (Hanoi).
Ms. Hanh has been working for only a bakery since returning to Hanoi for 8 years, with a salary of 6 million VND/month, now 10 million VND/month.
After 8 years in Hanoi, I bought a motorbike as a means of transportation, changed my phone twice, and gave my mother about 1 million VND per month. My monthly salary is spent on rent, food, and living expenses, so I can't save much. I just hope not to get sick or have any problems because I see the savings, if I get sick, I'm afraid I won't have enough money to cover the expenses," said Ms. Hanh.
In the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, it was more difficult than Mr. Tien and Ms. Hanh. Originally from Tuyen Quang province, Ms. Nga went to Hanoi to work as a garment worker in 2013. In 2021, she married a fellow countryman who works as a technology motorbike taxi driver. After getting married, Ms. Nga and her husband rented a room in Cau Giay ward.
In 2023, Ms. Nga gave birth to her first son. After a period of time her biological mother came down to take care of her grandchild, after 1 year, Ms. Nga stopped breastfeeding and let her child live with her grandparents.
"My salary is about 10 million VND per month, my husband's income is unstable and unstable. Every month, I pay the rent and expenses of the couple about 7 million VND; I send her 3 million VND to her to take care of her son. I consider my entire salary as spent. With my husband's remaining income, I save up to buy some household items and rooms when I'm sick. Thinking about renting a house in Hanoi for many years, now that we have children and cannot live near them, we are thinking about returning to our hometown to start a business," Ms. Nga said sadly...
According to the survey results conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in March-April 2025 with nearly 3,000 workers in 10 provinces and cities, only 55.5% of workers are eligible to eat meat and fish for all main meals (excluding shift meals at enterprises).
54.9% of workers said that their salary and income are just enough to cover the basic expenses of their family; 26.3% have to be frugal and spend frugally; 7.9% are not living enough, having to do other jobs to earn more income to cover their living expenses.
