Expanding the social safety net for self-employed workers.

According to statistics from the Social Insurance Agency, to date, the entire province has 50,349 people participating in voluntary social insurance, reaching 86.82% of the annual plan. This figure reflects the significant efforts of the social insurance sector in innovating its communication and mobilization work and bringing the policy closer to the people.

Provincial social insurance officials and collection service staff directly visit each household to disseminate information and provide advice on social insurance policies.

These days, in many residential areas and markets throughout the province, the sight of social insurance officials and service organizations directly visiting households to disseminate information and provide advice has become familiar. No longer are these traditional policy dissemination sessions being conducted in a more flexible manner; current outreach efforts are more flexible, focusing on direct dialogue and providing specific answers to people's concerns.

In communes and wards throughout the province, the atmosphere of a voluntary social insurance awareness session is as friendly as a conversation between neighbors. Social insurance officials patiently explain to each resident the benefits of participation, from receiving a monthly pension and a free health insurance card upon eligibility for a pension to receiving partial government support for contributions.

According to the Social Insurance sector's assessment, there is still significant potential for growth in voluntary social insurance participation in Thai Nguyen province . Currently, the province has over 356,000 social insurance participants, while the total population is over 1.7 million and the labor force is estimated at over 800,000.

This means that the number of people participating in social insurance currently still hasn't reached half of the workforce. Therefore, the provincial Social Insurance agency has proactively advised the Provincial People's Committee and the Steering Committee for the implementation of social insurance and health insurance policies to deploy many solutions to expand the coverage of voluntary social insurance.

One of the prominent solutions is to assign targets for the development of voluntary social insurance participants to each commune and ward; at the same time, to study mechanisms for providing additional support for people's contributions during the 2026-2030 period. This is considered an important solution to encourage workers to maintain long-term participation, especially for low-income groups or those with unstable jobs.

Besides focusing on developing new participants, the social insurance sector also pays special attention to maintaining the number of existing participants. In the context of many self-employed workers still facing financial difficulties, the risk of interruption in social insurance contributions remains. To mitigate this, collection service organizations regularly review and remind people to pay on time; they also advise on choosing contribution levels and payment cycles suitable to each family's economic conditions...

Along with innovating its communication efforts, the Social Insurance Department of Thai Nguyen province is also accelerating administrative reforms and digital transformation to maximize convenience for citizens. Currently, social insurance participants can look up their contribution and benefit history through the VssID application on their smartphones. Many administrative procedures are now carried out online, saving people time and travel costs.

To sustainably expand the coverage of voluntary social insurance, the provincial social insurance agency needs to continue innovating the content and methods of communication in a more accessible and understandable way. Simultaneously, it should strengthen direct dialogues to promptly address people's concerns about contribution levels, participation periods, and benefits. Furthermore, leveraging the role of the grassroots political system, mass organizations, and influential community members is also crucial for the widespread dissemination of voluntary social insurance policies throughout society.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202605/mo-rong-tam-luoi-an-sinh-cho-lao-dong-tu-do-ca45dae/