Removing challenges with Vietnam's population structure: Need for thinking and making laws together

(PLVN) - Population is considered the "common denominator" for the problem of socio-economic development, but in the current period, Vietnam's population work is facing many challenges. It is time for population policy to not only stop at the goal of population control as in the previous period, but to transform into a system that accompanies the people - especially young families.

Báo Pháp Luật Việt Nam•12/05/2025

Facing a “distorted population structure”

On April 25, 2025, the General Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance, announced the first National Report on Civil Registration and Statistics. The report made important findings on trends in births, deaths and marriages. Accordingly, the total fertility rate is decreasing, lower than the replacement level of 2.1 children/woman. The gender imbalance at birth still exists, lasting for many years, far exceeding the balance of 104 - 106 boys/100 girls, commonly occurring in the northern provinces, typically Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, Hung Yen, Bac Giang.

According to the report, the average age of women giving birth is on the rise. There is a large difference in the average age of mothers giving birth by ethnicity.

In addition, the rate of infertility in Vietnam is increasing and becoming a serious public health problem. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, currently up to 7.7% of couples of reproductive age have difficulty having children. It is worth noting that this condition is not limited to older couples, but is increasingly common among young people, even those who are only 25 - 30 years old are facing the risk of infertility.

The causes stem from many factors such as environmental pollution, unsafe food, work pressure, stressful lifestyles and unhealthy living habits. In addition, the trend of late marriage and fewer children among young people today also contributes to the decline in birth rates. Without timely intervention policies, Vietnam will face a “distorted population structure”, both rapidly aging and lacking the next generation…

Population policy - from control to companionship

These figures and the reality of major changes in modern society show that Vietnam's population policy is facing many new challenges that require a more innovative, comprehensive and humane way of thinking about law making.

Specifically, Vietnam is entering a period of rapid population aging, while the birth rate has not reached the replacement level. This is a worrying paradox because a country cannot develop sustainably if it lacks young workers and has to bear the burden of social security costs for the elderly. In this situation, the thinking on population law making needs to be innovated towards a proactive and sustainable approach. Instead of being limited to rigid administrative provisions, the future Population Law needs to clearly define reproductive rights as part of human rights, thereby creating a more practical legal corridor for reproductive support, especially in vitro fertilization, sperm/egg donation, premarital counseling and comprehensive reproductive health care.

Recently, the proposal to increase maternity leave from 6 months to 7 months has attracted great public attention. Many supporters believe that extending maternity leave is necessary in the context of modern women facing many pressures from work, family and society. Longer leave not only helps mothers recover their health and take better care of their children, but also helps increase the rate of breastfeeding in the first 6 months - a key factor in children's physical and intellectual development.

However, there are also concerns about the financial burden on social insurance funds and businesses. In response to conflicting opinions, many experts have proposed a more flexible solution: allowing female workers to choose their maternity leave period within a range of 6 to 9 months, with corresponding financial support. More importantly, this policy should not be viewed solely from the perspective of labor rights, but should be evaluated in relation to long-term goals on population and national human resource development.

Currently, the Population Law project is being developed with the basic policies in the law being the core issues of population work in the new situation, including: maintaining replacement fertility; minimizing gender imbalance at birth; adapting to population aging; distributing population reasonably; improving population health; and integrating population factors into socio-economic development plans...

Speaking to the media, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cu - former Director of the Institute of Population and Social Issues, National Economics University, expressed his opinion that currently there are distinct changes in economic, social and population issues that require legal adjustment to comprehensively address the scale, structure, distribution and improvement of population quality, ensuring the rapid and sustainable development of the country.

It can be seen that population is not only quantity, but also quality, not only the present, but also the future. An advanced, accompanying and humane law will not only help solve the problem of fertility, but also be the key to protecting the country's future against global changes...

“The development of the Population Law to replace the current Population Ordinance is very necessary, in order to create a legal basis to institutionalize the Party's guidelines, policies and guidelines on population work in the new situation, directly the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of Delegates, Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on population work in the new situation; have measures to respond to the rapid population aging in the coming time, effectively take advantage of the golden population structure period to serve the sustainable development of the country; towards 2045, Vietnam will be a country with a good quality population, a large labor force, high income... enhancing the position and prestige of Vietnam in the international arena", Deputy Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong spoke at the Workshop on Contributing ideas and perfecting policies in the Population Law and suggesting policies for demographic transition of Asia-Pacific economies organized by the Department of Population, Ministry of Health in August 2024.

Hong Minh

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/go-bo-thach-thuc-voi-co-cau-dan-so-viet-nam-can-tu-duy-lam-luat-dong-hanh-post548061.html