Only 55.5% of workers are eligible to eat meat and fish in all main meals
According to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, based on the synthesis of reports from provincial and municipal labor federations, central industry unions and equivalent, and general corporation unions under the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on the implementation of Decree No. 74/2024/ND-CP, it shows that most enterprises have seriously implemented salary adjustments at enterprises with an average increase of 6%.
The results of the investigation and survey of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (March - April 2025) in 10 provinces and centrally run cities also showed: 93.25% of workers in enterprises participating in the survey said that their minimum wages have been adjusted according to regulations.
However, some enterprises only adjust for a part of workers with low salaries, just to pay insurance, so the actual salary of workers does not increase. This reflects the lack of seriousness in law enforcement, or it may be due to the company's lack of financial capacity, or deliberately "circumventing" the law.
According to the survey results conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in March - April 2025 with nearly 3,000 workers answering questions in 10 provinces and cities, it shows that 54.9% of workers said their salary and income were just enough to cover the basic expenses of their family; 26.3% had to be frugal and spend frugally; 7.9% were not living enough, having to do other jobs to earn more income to cover their living expenses.
In the context of income not meeting the spending needs of the family, leading to the situation where workers have to " though their belts" and save to ensure their lives; in many cases, workers have to borrow to pay for sudden and specific needs, the survey results show that 12.5% of workers regularly (monthly) have to borrow money to stabilize their lives; 29.9% of workers have to borrow money occasionally (3-4 months/time).
Only 55.5% of workers are eligible to eat meat and fish in all main meals (excluding shift meals at the enterprise). Thus, a significant number of people do not have a stable and adequate nutritional level, thereby affecting their physical health, efficiency and labor productivity, while also reducing the quality of life for them and their families.
According to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, up to 72.6% of the total number of single people said that their salary is the main reason affecting their decision to start a family. Workers feel that their current income is not enough to ensure a stable life when starting a family, especially in the context of increasing living expenses and raising children. Salary not only affects the ability to spend daily but also affects the ability to buy a house, save for the future and ensure basic needs for a new family.
72.5% of married workers said that their current salary and income affect their decision to have additional children. A living income makes couples worry about their financial capacity to raise their children. While the cost of raising children, especially the cost of education and health care, is increasingly expensive, they are delaying childbirth to ensure the quality of life for themselves and their families.
More than 53.3% of workers said that their salaries only partially meet (over 50%) of their children's education needs. Thus, for the majority of workers, the cost of education is a financial burden and they have to depend on support sources such as loans, savings or from their families to cover enough. In particular, 6.9% of workers said their salaries did not meet the demand for children's education. This is an worrying number, which could lead to their children not having access to quality education, affecting the development ability and career opportunities of future generations.
Regarding medical examination and treatment costs, 44.1% of workers said their income only meets basic health care and medical examination and treatment needs; 38.0% only has enough money to buy some basic drugs; 5.6% is completely unable to buy drugs and medical examination and treatment. The majority of workers do not have the financial capacity to proactively take care of their health comprehensively, especially when they have serious health problems or need long-term treatment.
With the above situation, continuing to adjust the regional minimum wage early is important, urgent and extremely necessary for workers and their families - the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor stated.
Labor productivity increases beyond the target assigned by the National Assembly
According to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, based on Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW dated May 21, 2018 of the Central Executive Committee on reforming salary policies for cadres, civil servants, public employees, armed forces and workers in enterprises; Article 91 of the 2019 Labor Code Miningum salary is the lowest salary paid to workers doing the simplest work in normal working conditions to ensure the minimum living standard of workers and their families, in accordance with socio-economic development conditions.
At the same time, closely follow the factors stated in Clause 3, Article 91 of the 2019 Labor Code (minimum wage is adjusted based on the minimum living standard of employees and their families; correlation between the minimum wage and the salary in the market; consumer price index, economic growth rate, labor supply and demand relationship; employment and unemployment; labor productivity; payment capacity of enterprises - to determine the minimum wage of employees.
In 2024, labor productivity will increase by 5.88% compared to 2023, exceeding the target assigned by the National Assembly (in 2024, the National Assembly set an average increase in social labor productivity of about 4.8 - 5.3%). The goal of Vietnam's labor productivity growth strategy by 2030 is to reach over 6.5%/year.
Regarding business support policies in 2025, many business support policies have been and are being implemented, focusing on reducing, extending, postponing and exempting taxes, fees, charges, as well as supporting land access and finance.
In particular, the Politburo issued Resolution 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025 on private economic development; the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 198/2025/QH15 dated May 17, 2025 on a number of special mechanisms and policies for private economic development; the Government issued Resolution No. 138/NQ-CP promulgating the Government's Action Plan to implement Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW... which are considered policy "push-ups", creating momentum for this economic sector to develop strongly.
2025 is of special significance, a year of acceleration and breakthrough to reach the finish line to successfully implement the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021 - 2025, a year of many important events of the country. In 2026, the country will celebrate 40 years of "innovation", the 14th National Congress of the Party, and also the year of starting the implementation of the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2026 - 2030, marking an important turning point in the country's development process...
According to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, from the above grounds, it is necessary to build a reasonable salary policy, ensuring that workers have enough income to cover their living expenses and accumulate. In reality, countries and many enterprises show that increasing wages not only benefits employees, it is also a driving force to increase labor productivity, promote rapid and strong development of enterprises, and is a premise for attachment between employees and enterprises.
Therefore, at the first session of the National Wage Council, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposed the time to adjust the minimum wage from January 1, 2026.
Regarding the adjustment of the minimum monthly salary: The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposes 2 options:
Regarding the adjustment of minimum hourly wages: The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposes to determine the minimum hourly wages based on the conversion of monthly minimum wages and having an adjustment coefficient.
According to Decision No. 992/QD-TTg of the Government, the National Salary Council (Council) has 17 members including: Chairman of the Council is Mr. Nguyen Manh Khuong - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.
The Vice Chairmen of the Council include: Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; Mr. Hoang Quang Phong - Vice President of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI); Mr. Dinh Hong Thai - Vice President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.
The remaining Council members include: 4 representative members of the Ministry of Home Affairs; 4 representative members of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor; 3 representative members of the central employer representative organization (including 1 representative member of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2 members representing two central trade unions that employ many workers);
The 2 independent members are experts and scientists in the fields of labor, wages, and socio-economics (excluding experts and scientists working at agencies, units, research institutes, universities under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and central employers' representative organizations).
