Amending the law to help workers feel secure having children

Want to have more children, but there are many worries

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cham (a garment worker in Bac Giang) expressed her agreement with the proposal to extend maternity leave from 6 to 7 months. She said that when she gave birth to her second child, she took a 6-month maternity leave as currently prescribed.

"Personally, I want to take an extra month off to have better conditions to take care of my child. At that time, I will feel more secure when I return to work" - Ms. Cham expressed.

Both workers working in Thach That Industrial Park (Hanoi), Mr. Nguyen Le Nam and Ms. Nguyen Thi Man have been married for nearly 3 years. They met while working as workers in Thai Binh, fell in love and became husband and wife. The couple's income is nearly 20 million VND/month, including the money Mr. Nam spends on driving a motorbike taxi in the evening, but they still rent a small room, just enough to put a bed and a kitchen shelf to cook. The couple shared that they wanted to save money to prepare for giving birth.

"In fact, our income is enough to consider buying social housing. But if my wife gives birth to a second child and is given priority in the future, the dream of having a house will be easier to realize" - Mr. Nam said.

Ms. Cham, Mr. Nam, and Ms. Man are typical examples of millions of workers today, especially those who are planning to have a second child.

In the draft of the Population Law, the Ministry of Health assessed: “Continuing to maintain current regulations, according to the forecast, the birthplace script continues to decrease, by 2039, Vietnam will end the golden population period, in 2042 the population size in the age of the peak and after 2054 the population will begin to grow negative.

Strengthening policies for workers to have children

Also in this draft, the Ministry of Health made two important proposals and proposed to amend the relevant laws. It is "Amendment of Clause 1, Article 139 of the Labor Code 2019; Other cases apply according to current regulations to allow female workers to give birth to the second child to extend the maternity leave period from 6 months to 7 months". At the same time, supplementing this subject to Article 76 of the Law on Housing in 2023 to allow women to give birth to two children in industrial parks, export processing zones and provinces and cities with low birth levels to enjoy social housing support policies as prescribed by the Government.

These two proposals are considered to have many positive impacts. The Ministry of Health assessed: Implementing the policy will encourage couples to have two children, ensuring the replacement fertility rate nationwide; have the impact of prolonging the golden population structure, avoiding rapid population aging to have a sustainable human resource for national development; helping to increase per capita income.

Stabilizing the workforce, population size, positively affecting the quality of human resources, contributing to economic growth. This result helps avoid the consequences of both conditions: overpopulation due to increased or decreased population size, and a rapid decrease in labor force if the birth rate decreases below the replacement level.

People are entitled to appropriate support policies and have 2 children. Thereby, contributing to reducing the cost of giving birth, raising children, bringing family happiness".

Speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Chairman of the Trade Union of Bac Giang Garment Export Company (Bac Giang province) - said that the policy of increasing maternity leave will ensure the health of female workers as well as create conditions for them to have more time to take care of their children.

"I think increasing maternity leave from 6 months to 7 months is very good" - Mr. Hung expressed.

Regarding the question of whether increasing maternity leave affects the employment of workers as well as the production situation of enterprises, Mr. Hung said that for enterprises, especially garment enterprises, there is always a need for workers; workers taking extra maternity leave will more or less affect production.

"However, if you take an extra month off, you will have more time and better conditions to take care of your child. Children are the most important thing, said Mr. Hung.

According to data from the Vietnam Social Security, each year, about 6,500 women give birth to a second child, receiving maternity benefits each month with an average of 7.7 million VND/month. If it increases from 6 months to 7 months, the State budget is expected to ensure payment of about 50.3 billion VND/year.

Agreeing with policies to support women with second children, National Assembly Deputy La Thanh Tan (Hai Phong City National Assembly Delegation) said that Vietnam has been facing the problem of population aging and aging population.

According to National Assembly Deputy La Thanh Tan, late marriage gradually leads to late childbirth, accelerates the rate of population aging, causes a shortage of young human resources, decreases labor force and productivity, and puts increasingly great pressure on social security. The Government has issued Decision No. 588 approving the program to adjust birth rates to suit regions and subjects by 2030. However, programs and policies are still general, in the form of pilot or not yet implemented vigorously, stopping at communication activities, focusing on childbirth, the effectiveness is still very modest.

"I hope to have priorities to remove the most common practical difficulties and obstacles that young couples are currently facing. Along with that, study and amend the Population Law, institutionalize the Party's viewpoint on population issues" - National Assembly Deputy La Thanh Tan commented.