Ms. Nguyen Thi Van (character's name has been changed) is a civil servant working at a rehabilitation center in Hanoi. She said that her total income is 9 million VND/month; her husband is a civil servant in the Party sector with a total income of about 18 million VND/month.
Looking at it, the figure of 27 million VND for the whole family seems to be temporarily stable, but because there are too many expenses to cover daily expenses, while the price of many expenses is increasing, my family still cannot afford to cover monthly expenses. Many times, we have to rely on the support and assistance of both families. My wife and I have to be frugal in spending, and we have to calculate everything we buy, Ms. Van shared.
Ms. Van said that after the recent flood, many items, including food, electricity, and gasoline, have increased in price. For example, pork products used to cost 120,000 VND/kg, now cost 150,000-170,000 VND/kg; if bought in supermarkets, it was 220,000-250,000 VND/kg. "Yesterday, my father and I went to the supermarket to buy food and sold out 1 million VND" - she said.
Ms. Van's family has two children in primary school (grade 3 and grade 5). Ms. Van listed: Take your child to school, buy breakfast for the two: Sties are 15,000 VND/serving and milk is 10,000 VND/box, a total of about 50,000 VND/child. If parents have a simple breakfast, they will also have to spend 60,000-70,000 VND, and they will spend 110,000-120,000 VND for the whole family in the morning. At noon, the couple ate at work, each person 50,000-60,000 VND, plus their children's portion. Thus, in the morning alone, the family's food expenses are around 240,000 VND.
In the afternoon, before going to extra classes, the children had a snack, an additional 60,000 VND. In the evening, if she saves money at the market, she also has to spend at least 100,000 - 200,000 VND.
The couple also have to pay for their children's extra tuition; gasoline (a few hundred thousand to 1 million VND), electricity (2 million VND/month); water (500,000 VND/month)...
"That is not to mention the gifts and gifts. Each wedding is an additional 500,000 VND, sometimes 1 million VND. If there are many weddings every month, my salary may be almost gone," said Ms. Van.
Ms. Van's family's house was bought by her parents, but if they only relied on their income, while having to raise their children, buying a house would be very difficult, if not impossible. The couple has almost no savings each month to prevent wind and rain, or to care for their children's education in the future. Financial pressure makes Ms. Van always have to weigh and weigh her expenses.
Ms. Van hopes to get a salary increase, her minimum income is 15 million VND/month to avoid having to calculate too much before each payment. She hopes to increase the basic salary from the beginning of the year, and soon implement salary reform so that civil servants and public employees can ensure the family's life.
Ms. Ha Thi H - a junior high school teacher in Hung Yen province - shared that she has worked in the industry for 20 years, but her total income at this time (including salary and allowances) is only about 12 million VND/month. Her husband used to work for a public service unit under the department, with an income of about 15 million VND/month. Recently, her husband quit his job according to Decree 178.
When both husband and wife have an income (about 27 million VND/month), this amount of money is enough for me and my wife to spend, raise our children to study, and cover our living expenses, Ms. H said, hoping that the salaries of civil servants like her would soon increase to improve their lives.
Currently, her family's expenses are as follows: 300,000 VND/day for 4 people; extra school fees for 2 children: 6 million/month; In addition, she gives money for gasoline, clothes, visits...
"I don't spend much. If the couple can earn about 25 million VND/month, they will save 5 million VND/month," said Ms. H.
Ms. H also expressed her agreement with the National Assembly delegate's opinion on the need to set an average monthly income for civil servants and public employees of 15 million VND/month or more. "Thus, civil servants like me will take better care of their families, work with peace of mind, and contribute more," said Ms. H.
