Vietnam Social Security has just issued specific guidance on the conditions for enjoying pensions for voluntary social insurance (SI) participants, which clarifies the case of female workers born in 1979 participating in SI late.
Sending questions to the social insurance agency, Ms. N.H. said that she was born in March 1979 and started participating in voluntary social insurance from April 2025. Ms. H. wonders how many years of social insurance she needs to pay to receive a pension, when she reaches the age she is eligible to receive it, and if she reaches retirement age but does not have enough years of contribution, will she be entitled to one-time compensation or not.
Regarding this issue, Vietnam Social Security said that, according to the provisions of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, voluntary social insurance participants are entitled to a pension when they reach retirement age according to the provisions of the Labor Code and have a social insurance contribution period of 15 years or more.
The 2019 Labor Code stipulates that from January 1, 2021, the retirement age of workers in normal working conditions will be gradually adjusted to increase according to the roadmap. For female workers, it will increase by 4 months each year until they reach 60 years old in 2035.
According to this roadmap, female workers born in March 1979 will reach 60 years old in March 2039, which is the time to meet the age conditions to receive pensions.
Comparing Ms. H's social insurance participation time, if she continuously paid voluntary social insurance from April 2025 to March 2039, the total participation time is 14 years, not meeting the minimum condition of 15 years according to regulations.
In this case, according to the Government's regulations on voluntary social insurance, people who have reached retirement age but are still short of 5 years (60 months) of social insurance contributions are allowed to pay once for the remaining time to be eligible for pension.
Thus, by March 2039, Ms. H. can choose to pay in one installment for the remaining years of social insurance to have enough 15 years and be granted retirement benefits according to regulations.
According to the Social Insurance Law of 2024, for female workers, the monthly pension level is calculated at 45% of the average income as the basis for social insurance contributions corresponding to 15 years of social insurance contributions, then for each additional year of contribution, an additional 2% is calculated, the maximum level is 75%.
In Ms. H's case, if she completes 15 years of voluntary social insurance contributions, the pension benefit level will be determined based on the income level chosen to pay social insurance during the participation period.
