Voters in Ninh Binh province proposed to study reducing the age of social assistance from 75 to 70 years old in order to expand the beneficiaries, ensure social security and better care for the lives of the elderly. The Ministry of Health said that this issue needs to be comprehensively studied, balanced with budget resources and the sustainability of the social security system.
Gradually reducing the age for enjoying allowances
According to the Ministry of Health, the state has gradually expanded the policy of subsidies for the elderly in recent years.
Decree No. 30/2002/ND-CP dated March 26, 2002 stipulates that elderly people aged 90 and over are entitled to social allowances. By 2007, Decree No. 67/2007/ND-CP had reduced this age to 85 years old.
Next, Decree No. 06/2011/ND-CP stipulates that people aged 80 and over who do not have a pension or social allowance from the State are entitled to social allowances.
The policy continued to be expanded when the Government issued Decree No. 20/2021/ND-CP dated March 15, 2021 on social assistance policies for social protection beneficiaries.
According to this regulation, people from 75 years old to under 80 years old from poor households, near-poor households, living in communes and villages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas with special difficulties are also allowed to expand the scope of monthly social assistance benefits.
Notably, from July 1, 2025, the social pension allowance policy continues to be implemented according to Decree No. 176/2025/ND-CP dated June 30, 2025 of the Government, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Social Insurance on social pension allowances.
Accordingly, elderly people are considered for social pension benefits when they meet the following conditions: From 75 years old or older or from 70 years old to under 75 years old belonging to poor households, near-poor households; not receiving monthly pensions or social insurance allowances, except for other cases as prescribed by the Government; and having a written request for social pension benefits.
Thus, the current policy has initially expanded the scope of elderly people to access social pension benefits, in which groups from 70 to under 75 years old belonging to poor and near-poor households have been included in the consideration for policy benefits.
Need to balance budget resources
Regarding the proposal of Ninh Binh voters to continue reducing the age of social assistance to 70 years old, the Ministry of Health believes that this is an issue that needs to be studied based on a comprehensive assessment.
According to the Ministry of Health, further reducing the age of social pension benefits will increase the number of beneficiaries, thereby directly impacting state budget resources.
Therefore, policy adjustments need to be considered simultaneously in many aspects, including the number and characteristics of beneficiary groups, budget balancing capacity, allowance levels as well as the sustainability of the social security system.
The Ministry of Health emphasizes that the continued reduction in the age of enjoying social pension benefits needs to be comprehensively studied, ensuring compliance with the state budget balance capacity in each period.
