Knowing that she would receive a social pension allowance of VND500,000 in just 2 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung (68 years old) could not hide her joy.
"According to current regulations, I have to wait until I am 75 to receive the subsidy. However, from July 1, the age of receiving social pension benefits is regulated to be reduced by 5 years, making us look forward to it" - Ms. Nhung said.
According to a recent statistical report from the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam's average life expectancy is 73.64 years old.
According to Ms. Nhung, lowering the age of 70 for poor and near-poor households to receive social pension benefits is an extremely humane and practical policy.
Ms. Nhung belongs to a near-poor household, so she does not enjoy many benefits like a poor household. The main income comes from renting money from wrapping paper, drying dried Sophora japonica nuts to sell and raising dogs, earning about 500,000 VND/month each month.
Without a pension, Ms. Nhung saves all expenses from electricity bills, living expenses to medicine if she is unfortunately sick. Daily food is self-sufficient with a few sao of rice fields and small gardens as well as support from children.
"With the 500,000 VND I will receive when I am 70 years old, I will spend it to buy chickens to raise. When the chickens grow up, I feel much more secure because I have eggs to eat and also have more income from selling eggs and chicken" - Ms. Nhung shared.
Discussing further, Ms. Nhung said that having an additional 500,000 VND will help with daily living expenses, not having to rely too much on children.
Ms. Nhung hopes that 2 years after reaching the age of 70, the social pension allowance can increase to 750,000. At the same time, she also hopes to receive support for electricity bills like a poor household to feel secure in using a steam fan in the summer.
Ms. Pham Thi ran (70 years old, Thai Binh) said she is looking forward to July 2025, because at that time, she will receive additional social pension benefits.
"I am a poor household in the commune, my husband passed away early, my two daughters are married, and their finances are normal, so I don't dare to ask for much help. All living expenses must be covered by selling vegetables every day, said Ms. Tran.
Every day, she wakes up at 4:30 am to go to the garden to pick vegetables, tie them up and take them to the market to sell until 10 am to get home. If you go to the market for 30 days, you will only earn more than 1 million VND, if you do not go to the market for one day, you will lose your income that day.
From July 1, 2025, with an additional 500,000 VND in social pension benefits, Ms. Tran shared that she will spend it to buy more milk to drink, pay the electricity bill and improve breakfast. Ms. Tran said that an old dong is worth ten dong when it is young, so it is extremely precious.
With a total income of about 1.5 million VND plus social pension benefits, Ms. Tran feels much more secure when her old age has knocked on the door.
"With additional subsidies, if my health declines, I won't worry too much when it rains or when I'm busy and can't go to the vegetable market. Maybe next year, I will gradually reduce my need to wake up early every day to make a living to maintain better health" - Ms. Tran said.
