A civil servant pays a pension to an elderly person in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Tuyết Nhung has worked for 16 years at an electronic components plant in the Thăng Long Industrial Zone in Đông Anh District, Hà Nội and has paid social insurance the entire time.

She is 39, from Vĩnh Phúc, and is a single mom. Due to the economic burden, Nhung's two children live in her hometown with their grandparents.

Nhung’s total income is around VNĐ9 million (US$380) per month, including pay for three overtime shifts each week.

This amount is just enough for her to pay living expenses, including renting a small apartment and sending a little to her parents to raise her children.

“I have four years left before I'm eligible to receive a pension when I turn 55. This leaves me with two decades before I can retire. That's quite long for a labourer who does hard work”, Nhung said.

Nhung told the Lao Động (Labour) newspaper that she once considered quitting her job in the plant, withdrawing her insurance using the money to start her own business instead of waiting to receive a pension.

Similarly, Nguyễn Khánh, from Hà Nội, lamented: "I am 44 years old, I have paid social insurance for 21 years, but even though, I still have to wait more than ten years to receive a pension.”

Khánh complained that most women have to give birth, take care of housework, and earn a living. By the age of 50, a woman’s health is exhausted. Therefore, she feels that for female workers like her, the current retirement policy is not suitable.

According to current regulations, employees must pay social insurance for 20 years before being eligible to receive a pension. The minimum retirement age is 60 years and nine months for men and 56 years for women.

The waiting time to reach retirement age is never fun, causing many people to consider withdrawing their social insurance instead of saving it for the future.

In the fields of textiles, garments, leather and footwear, wood processing, components and equipment, many workers have not reached retirement age but have had to change jobs for various reasons, mostly due to weak health and loss of working capacity.

Lê Đình Quảng, deputy head of the Policy and Law Division under the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), said many workers are not old enough to retire but have paid social insurance in excess of the required minimum period to enjoy a pension.

Many people can't wait, retire early and have their pension deducted.

The VGCL will collect opinions and review thoroughly the issue, he said.

Regarding the regulations in the draft Law on Social Insurance, some agencies proposed to reduce the minimum period of social insurance payment for a pension from 20 years to 15 years, because many workers have to retire early due to health reasons.

But the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) suggested keeping the regulations as drafted.

The reason cited is that each year removed before the specified age will cause a two-per-cent reduction in the pension rate. Thus, the pension rate will be deducted due to early retirement.

A pension that is too low will not make much sense when a male worker has paid social insurance for 15 years and his pension rate is just 33.75 per cent. If he retires five years earlier, 10 per cent more will be deducted and his pension rate is just 23.75 per cent, said the MoLISA.

According to the MoLISA, pensions, also known as old age insurance, are one of the key policies of social insurance to ensure monthly income for employees.

Other countries, when building retirement regulations, require that workers must meet conditions regarding minimum age and social insurance contributions to receive a pension.

In the process of researching and developing the Labour Code 2019, MoLISA reiterated that the retirement age has been discussed and evaluated thoroughly.

When drafting the Law on Social Insurance, the compiling board inherits from the retirement age regulations in the Labour Code in 2019 to ensure uniformity and consistency, said the MoLISA. — VNS