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Ageing, Poverty, and the Role of a Social Pension in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • GIANG THANH LONG

    (National Economics University)

  • WADE DONALD PFAU

    (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies)

Abstract

By using the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey in 2004, this paper seeks to quantify the potential role and impacts of a social pension scheme for reducing elderly poverty in Vietnam. We simulate how the poverty rate, poverty gap, and poverty severity of the elderly would have been changed in the counterfactual situation that such a scheme had been introduced to Vietnam in the past. We consider a number of categorical targeting groups of elderly people along with various transfer parameters to assess the impacts of the scheme on social welfare. We find that, depending on the characteristics of the social pension, there would be beneficial poverty reductions, but also large leakages to the non-poor people. For a variety of measures, our results suggest that targeting the elderly in rural areas might be the most effective use of limited resources. Also, simulations for different budgetary constraints show that, even with limited budgeting, a social pension scheme would significantly reduce poverty incidence for the elderly. We also find that for a given program cost, combining lower benefits with lower eligibility requirements is more effective at reducing poverty than providing larger benefits to a more limited group of recipients. Published as: Giang, L. T., and W. D. Pfau. “Aging, Poverty, and the Role of Social Pensions in Vietnam,” Development and Change. Vol. 40, No. 2 (March 2009), p. 333-360.

Suggested Citation

  • Giang Thanh Long & Wade Donald Pfau, 2008. "Ageing, Poverty, and the Role of a Social Pension in Vietnam," GRIPS Discussion Papers 10-09, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, revised Jul 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:ngi:dpaper:10-09
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Barrientos, Armando, 2012. "What is the Role of Social Pensions in Asia?," ADBI Working Papers 351, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    2. Ho, Manh-Toan, 2018. "Việt Nam cần tăng mạnh đầu tư khoa học để phát triển bền vững," OSF Preprints 6adqs, Center for Open Science.
    3. KUMARA, Ajantha Sisira & PFAU, Wade Donald, 2010. "IMPACT of Cash Transfer Programs on School Attendance and Child Poverty: An Ex-ante Simulation for Sri Lanka," MPRA Paper 30501, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 Aug 2010.
    4. Giang, Long Thanh & Pfau, Wade Donald, 2009. "A Gender Perspective on Elderly Work in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 24946, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Pfau, Wade Donald & Giang, Thanh Long, 2009. "Remittances, Living Arrangements, and the Welfare of the Elderly," MPRA Paper 19121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Long T. Giang & Wade D. Pfau, 2009. "Vulnerability of Vietnamese Elderly to Poverty: Determinants and Policy Implications," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 23(4), pages 419-437, December.
    7. Channarith Meng & Wade Pfau, 2012. "Simulating the Impacts of Cash Transfers on Poverty and School Attendance: The Case of Cambodia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 436-452, December.
    8. Giang Thanh Long & Dharmapriya Wesumperuma, 2013. "Some Notes on Social Pensions in Viet Nam," One Pager 210, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ageing; poverty; social pensions; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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