Struggling in old age because of no "savings"

heavy burden

For more than ten years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hop (65 years old) has been making a living by selling vegetables at Dong Ngo Quyen market (Hai Duong city). On hot and rainy days, she wakes up at 3 am to go to the wholesale market to get her goods. Then she comes back to sell until about 12 noon, and in the afternoon from 3:30 to 8 pm.

Ms. Hop is single, has no husband, no children, and is taking care of her 88-year-old mother. In addition to her mother's old-age allowance, the living expenses of both mother and daughter depend on the income from her vegetable stall. Since 2016, Ms. Hop has suffered from thrombocytosis, so every month she has to buy medicine for treatment, which costs about 2 million VND. "On good days, I make a profit of over 100,000 VND, but on hot days like this, when vegetables wilt and rot quickly, I only make a few tens of thousands. After deducting the cost of medicine, there is not much money left, so on days when I am tired, I don't dare to rest," Ms. Hop shared.

Also single, without pension, poor health, unable to do farming, for the past 4 years, Mrs. Bui Thi Que, 67 years old, from Hong Duc commune (Ninh Giang) has gone to Hai Duong city to work as a housekeeper. She is taking care of an old man over 80 years old. Mrs. Que said: "His children are all busy, they don't have time to take care of their father, so they hired me. Although taking care of the elderly is not easy while my health is not very good, sometimes I still feel lucky to have found a job because I don't know how to live."

Although she is 63 years old and has heart disease, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong in Phu Thu Ward (Kinh Mon) still applies to work as a caregiver for a unit in the ward. Ms. Huong said that her husband also has a monthly pension, and half of that pension is spent on her medical expenses. “In the countryside, there are many expenses, today there are death anniversaries, funerals, tomorrow weddings, housewarmings. Many times, my family does not have even 100,000 VND. I often go for regular check-ups and get medicine later than the doctor's appointment just because I don't have money. Even though I know it is dangerous for my health, I have to accept it. Luckily, I have been able to find a job for the past few months, so life is easier,” Ms. Huong said sadly.

Ms. Hop, Ms. Que or Ms. Huong and many older workers, although having different circumstances, most of them still have to earn a living, take care of their lives and their families when they are past working age because they do not have a pension.

Need cooperation

Hai Duong currently has over 330,000 elderly people, of which over 42,200 are aged 60-79 and over 49,000 are aged 80 and over and receive monthly social benefits. “From the above data, it can be seen that the number of elderly people in the province without pensions is still quite large. Although many people receive social benefits, the level of benefits is still low,” said Mr. Luong Anh Te, Head of the Provincial Elderly Association Representative Board.

According to Mr. Te, to ensure their lives and have the conditions to treat and take care of their health when they are sick, many elderly people rely on the support of their children. But there are also many people who do not want to be a burden to their children or live alone and have to work to earn a living.

In recent times, along with the effective implementation of the Party and State's policies and guidelines for the elderly, Hai Duong has also implemented many preferential policies for the elderly such as: supporting health insurance premiums for people aged 65 to under 80; supporting 100% of health insurance premiums for party members awarded the 40-year-old badge; allocating funds to implement the elderly health care program; wishing longevity and giving gifts to the elderly; supporting funding to build houses for people with housing difficulties... In addition, localities, organizations, enterprises... also have many activities to care for and help the poor and disadvantaged elderly. However, the above activities only help them alleviate some of their difficulties, many people still have to shoulder the burden of making a living.

The older people get, the more they need a solid foundation in many aspects, especially social security. “To achieve this, the entire political system, family and society need to work together. If these issues are resolved, it will certainly help the elderly live happily, healthily and usefully,” Mr. Luong Anh Te emphasized.