Number of workers withdrawing social insurance at one time increased

On the morning of June 14, Mr. Dao Duy Hien, Deputy Head of the Social Insurance Policy Implementation Department of the Vietnam Social Insurance, informed that 78% of workers withdrawing at once are between 20 and under 40 years old, 98% leave the social security system after one year of unemployment. They mainly work in enterprises, especially the FDI sector which is under a lot of pressure.

The number of workers withdrawing social insurance increased, but the number of people receiving unemployment benefits decreased by nearly 9.8% compared to the same period last year, to 442,400. More than 8,700 people received vocational training support decisions, down 4.3%.

"When asked whether they considered receiving a pension, having a free health insurance card when they retire, or choosing to withdraw it all at once, many workers still chose the latter because of their immediate financial needs," said Mr. Hien. Many workers said they understood the social security policy and wanted to receive a pension, but because of economic conditions, they chose to withdraw. The withdrawal conditions are currently quite easy, with attractive benefits.

General Director of Vietnam Social Security Nguyen The Manh added that in early 2023, when there was information about amending the Social Security Law, many workers did not fully understand, so the number of one-time withdrawals of social insurance increased dramatically, but from October 2023 until now, it has decreased.

The draft revised Law on Social Insurance, expected to be passed on June 25, proposes two options for one-time social insurance settlement. Option one: Employees who participate before July 1, 2025, after 12 months of not paying compulsory or voluntary social insurance but have not paid social insurance for 20 years, can withdraw their social insurance payment in one lump sum.

Option 2: Employees who have not paid social insurance for 20 years and after 12 months are not subject to compulsory social insurance nor do they pay voluntarily will be settled for a maximum of 50% of the total time paid into the Pension Fund for Survivors. The remaining amount will be reserved to enjoy the regime when returning to the social security system.

These two options were first proposed by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in March 2023 during the consultation on the draft law amendment. After 15 months of discussion, the drafting and reviewing agency has not yet agreed to eliminate any option due to too many different opinions and "both options are not optimal".

Statistics for the period 2016-2022 show that nearly 4.85 million people left the social security system. Of these, 1.3 million people returned, continued to work and pay social insurance; nearly 3.55 million people have not returned; 907,000 workers have withdrawn twice; more than 61,000 people have withdrawn three times. About 99% of workers withdraw once after a year of stopping payment and most of them work in enterprises. Workers in the Southeast and Mekong Delta account for 60% of people withdrawing social insurance once.