The Ministry of Justice has just announced the dossier for appraisal of the draft Decree of the Government stipulating social assistance policies and social pension allowances, which was drafted by the Ministry of Health. The draft is being consulted before being submitted to the Government for consideration and decision.
Accordingly, the draft proposes to adjust the standard level of social assistance and social pension benefits from 500,000 VND to 540,000 VND/month, equivalent to an increase of 8%, expected to be applied from July 1.
According to Decree No. 161/2026/ND-CP, the base salary from July 1, 2026 is 2,530,000 VND/month (the current base salary is 2,340,000 VND/month). The base salary increases while adjusting to increase pensions and social insurance allowances by an additional 8% for some benefit groups.
Two options for adjusting social assistance levels
In the process of collecting opinions, many localities and voters proposed to increase the social assistance level to about 600,000 VND/month to approach the current minimum living standard.
Accepting these opinions, the Ministry of Health proposed two options to submit to the Government:
Option 1:
From July 1, 2026, the level of 540,000 VND/month is applied. This plan ensures synchronization of social security policies and is suitable for budget balancing capacity, but does not meet the expectation of rapidly increasing support levels, when it only meets about 24.5% of rural poverty standards and 19.2% of urban poverty standards.
Option 2:
From July 1, 2026, the level of 540,000 VND/month will be applied and from July 1, 2027, it will be increased to 600,000 VND/month. This plan helps improve the level of support, contributing to improving the lives of beneficiaries, but increases budget expenditures by about 4,255 billion VND compared to plan 1 in 2027.
The Ministry of Health said it prioritizes option 1, and will continue to study the adjustment roadmap in the next phase, based on socio-economic development and budget capacity.
Budget impact and beneficiaries
According to calculations, with about 4.5 million people enjoying the policy, adjusting the allowance level to 540,000 VND/month will increase budget spending by about 304 billion VND per month. Total additional spending is expected to increase in 2026 (from July 1) by about 1,824 billion VND.
The Ministry of Health said that this increase is within the state budget balance for the period 2026–2030. At the same time, local budgets will be responsible for ensuring cases of expanding subjects and adjusting support levels in localities.
Supplementing emergency support policies
The draft decree also supplements regulations on the regime of visiting and giving gifts to people affected in emergency situations such as natural disasters, epidemics or force majeure incidents.
This regulation aims to institutionalize the spirit of Resolution 42-NQ/TW, towards perfecting the social assistance system not only materially but also spiritually, helping people soon stabilize their lives after the upheaval.
It is expected that the policy of visits and emergency support will require about 5 billion VND/year from the central budget, while localities proactively balance resources for implementation.
