Vietnam was the first country to have a Population Law.

Photo caption — The National Assembly votes to pass the Population Law. Photo: VNA

Members of Parliament expressed strong support.

On December 10th, the National Assembly officially passed the Population Law with the approval of an overwhelming majority of National Assembly deputies (94.71%). Thus, Vietnam officially has a Population Law and is the first country to have one.

Mr. Le Thanh Dung, Director of the Population Department ( Ministry of Health ), stated: Vietnam is the first country to draft a Population Law; to date, no other country in the world has such a law. The Population Law cannot cover all the wishes of over 100 million people, but it strives to meet the needs of the people to the maximum extent. To finalize the draft law, the drafting committee has continuously listened to and incorporated feedback to revise it before submitting it to the National Assembly. Prior to this, the Ministry of Health had submitted this draft law several times.

According to the Population Department, compared to the previous Population Ordinance, the draft Law has stipulated more specific policies and measures on improving population quality, communication, advocacy, and education on population issues.

The draft Population Law has institutionalized the shift in the focus of population policy from family planning to population and development by concentrating on the standardization of four major policies.

New additional contents compared to the provisions of the Population Ordinance such as: Maintaining the replacement fertility rate, increasing maternity leave, financial support when giving birth, adding priority criteria to buy or rent social housing according to the provisions of the law on housing; minimizing gender imbalance at birth and bringing the gender ratio at birth to a natural balance, prohibiting the selection of fetal gender in any form except for the case of gender determination for the diagnosis and treatment of gender-related genetic diseases; contents adapting to population aging; improving population quality...

According to Mr. Le Thanh Dung, in order to finalize the dossier for submission to the National Assembly, there were contents in the draft Law that, even just days before discussion and approval, still received many opinions, especially the issue of purchasing social housing… While submitting to the National Assembly, the drafting committee had to continuously consult and seek opinions from experts to perfect this draft Law.

According to Minister Dao Hong Lan, this draft of the Population Law marks a fundamental change, shifting the focus of population policy from family planning to population and development. These contents are demonstrated through the synchronous resolution of issues regarding population size, structure, adaptation to population aging, and improving population quality in relation to socio-economic development.

Regarding the scope of the Law, the draft Law has been reviewed and supplemented with provisions related to the definition of terms. The Government has incorporated the opinions of delegates, focusing on regulations concerning maintaining replacement fertility rates, minimizing gender imbalance at birth, adapting to population aging, improving population quality, communication, advocacy, and education on population issues, and the conditions for ensuring the implementation of population work.

Regarding the State's population policy, the Government has incorporated and refined the draft, adding regulations that are principled and provide general guidance, reflecting a comprehensive set of policies that closely adhere to the Party and State's guidelines.

The draft law also addresses issues related to policies for maintaining replacement fertility levels, policies for adapting to population aging, and more.

Many policies are adapting to the new context.

The draft Population Law includes many "hot" policies that are of public interest in the current context. In particular, the regulations stipulate that women giving birth to their second child are entitled to 7 months of maternity leave, and men are entitled to 10 working days of leave when their wives give birth. This is one of the measures to maintain the replacement fertility rate. In addition, the Law also stipulates financial support for childbirth for women from very small ethnic minority groups; financial support for childbirth for women in provinces and cities with birth rates below the replacement level; and financial support for childbirth for women who have two children before the age of 35…

Specifically, regarding the policy of prioritizing the purchase or rental of social housing, the Law stipulates that individuals with two or more children are given priority to purchase, rent-to-own, or rent social housing in accordance with the law on housing. Based on the socio-economic conditions in each period, the Government shall regulate the level of entitlement, procedures, and conditions for entitlement in accordance with the law on housing for individuals with two or more children…

To maintain the replacement fertility rate, the Law also stipulates the rights and obligations of each individual and couple in childbirth and reproductive health care, such as the right to decide on the timing of childbirth, the number of children, and the spacing between births in accordance with the age, health status, educational and working conditions, income, and child-rearing capabilities of each individual and couple on an equal basis…

In particular, given the rapid aging of the population in Vietnam, the Law also contains many provisions related to protecting and caring for the health of the elderly.

Regarding measures to adapt to population aging, the Law addresses issues such as: proactively preparing for old age; caring for the elderly; developing human resources for elderly care; measures for supporting, caring for, and promoting the role of the elderly as stipulated in the law on the elderly and other relevant laws; other measures to adapt to population aging as stipulated in relevant laws; strategies, plans, programs, projects, and socio-economic development plans.

In particular, the Law also includes provisions on proactively preparing for old age; caring for the elderly; developing human resources for elderly care, etc.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-la-nuoc-dau-tien-co-luat-dan-so-20251210162353966.htm