Freelance workers participating in voluntary social insurance are not working under a labor contract, so they participate in social insurance on a voluntary and self-pay basis.
The revised Social Insurance Law 2024 (effective from July 1, 2025) brings some groundbreaking changes for freelance workers.
1. Reduce the time to pay social insurance to receive pension
The first is to reduce the minimum period of social insurance contribution from 20 years to 15 years to receive pension. Pension conditions for self-employed workers are similar to those in the compulsory sector.
Before 2025, many freelancers started participating in social insurance when they were older, so it was difficult to reach the 20-year mark. Therefore, they often chose to pay a one-time payment for the missing years when they were about to retire to be eligible for a pension.
If unable to pay compensation, employees will receive a one-time social insurance payment and will not receive a pension.
According to the Social Insurance Agency, in fact, in recent years, the number of people participating in voluntary social insurance has increased rapidly (reaching nearly 2.3 million people in 2024), but the majority have only participated for a few years. Therefore, if there is no change, many of them are at risk of giving up halfway or withdrawing all at once because they see 20 years as too far away.
Reducing the contribution period to 15 years to receive pension under the new policy will motivate workers to maintain their participation in social insurance.
Late participants, intermittent contributors, or those close to retirement age with 13-14 years of contributions can still wait a few more years or make up contributions to reach 15 years to enjoy retirement benefits.
2. Supplement maternity benefits
New social insurance policy adds many benefits for freelance workers - ILLUSTRATION PHOTO: NHAT THINH
Second, the 2024 Social Insurance Law also increases the attractiveness of voluntary social insurance by adding maternity benefits.
Women doing small business, farmers, freelance workers... if participating in voluntary social insurance now can both aim for pension and receive maternity benefits when giving birth.
According to the 2024 Social Insurance Law, female workers who give birth or male workers whose wives give birth and pay voluntary social insurance (or have both compulsory and voluntary social insurance) for 6 months or more, within 12 months before giving birth, are entitled to maternity benefits.
The maternity allowance is 2 million VND for each child born and each fetus 22 weeks or older that dies in utero or dies during labor.
Female workers who are ethnic minorities or female workers who are Kinh people whose husbands are ethnic minorities and are from poor households, when giving birth, are also entitled to other support policies according to Government regulations.
Of course, along with the benefits, there are also some challenges. According to many experts, low-income freelance workers may find it difficult to pursue continuous social insurance contributions, although the 15-year target is easier than 20 years. Maintaining financial support from the state (such as subsidizing the contribution rate) is essential for workers to stick with it for the long term.
In addition, the pension level of the voluntary group is often quite low because they pay on the basis of minimum income. Therefore, even though they have a pension, their life is still difficult. And this requires adjustments to the minimum pension or policies to support low-income pensioners.
Overall, having a pension, even a small one, is much better than having no pension at all. Not to mention, participants are also given free health insurance cards throughout their retirement period. Thereby, reducing the burden of medical expenses for the self-employed.
Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/tu-1-7-2025-chinh-sach-bhxh-co-loi-cho-lao-dong-tu-do-the-nao-1018830.html
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