Increasing pensions: Opportunity to increase the voluntary social insurance rate, reduce one-time social insurance benefits

Pension increase creates motivation to "stay" with the social insurance system

After many months of unemployment due to lack of work at the construction site, Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh (Hanoi) once planned to withdraw one-time social insurance benefits to have money to cover living expenses. More than 12 years of social insurance contributions at that time were considered the only "backup" for a difficult period.

“I used to think about taking the money out first. But after being consulted, I understood that if I withdraw social insurance once, I would lose the opportunity to receive a pension and health insurance card when I get old,” Mr. Chinh shared.

After many considerations, he decided to reserve all the time he had participated in social insurance to wait to continue contributing when there was a suitable job.

Not only Mr. Chinh, many workers after quitting their jobs are also changing their thinking about one-time social insurance. Instead of "leaving the system" to receive immediate money, they are starting to pay more attention to the long-term value of pensions, health insurance and social security regimes when they are old and weak.

This trend takes place in the context that from July 1, 2026, the pension level, social insurance allowances and monthly allowances will be adjusted to increase by an additional 8% according to Decree 162/2026/ND-CP. The information that pensions continue to increase has created more motivation for many people to choose to preserve their social insurance participation time, maintaining the opportunity to receive pensions in the future.

According to the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, employees who quit their jobs but do not meet the conditions to receive a pension, have not received one-time social insurance benefits or have not received monthly allowances are entitled to preserve the entire period of contribution to add up later.

A noteworthy point is that from July 1, 2025, the minimum social insurance contribution period to receive a pension has been reduced from 20 years to 15 years. The new regulation opens up more opportunities for many middle-aged workers, freelancers or people with non-continuous social insurance participation to still be eligible to receive a pension when reaching retirement age.

According to social security experts, in the context of rapidly increasing population aging, maintaining social insurance participation and having monthly pensions will help workers significantly reduce financial pressure when they get old, especially medical examination and treatment costs.

Not only receiving a stable monthly pension, pensioners are also issued health insurance cards for long-term health care. This is considered a "double fulcrum" in terms of income and health that receiving one-time social insurance benefits cannot replace.

According to Vietnam Social Security, it is estimated that by the end of April 2026, the whole country will have 222,201 people receiving one-time social insurance benefits, down 24.89% compared to the same period in 2025. This figure shows that more and more workers have considered more carefully between immediate benefits and long-term social security.

Expanding voluntary social insurance benefits helps workers gain more confidence to accumulate for old age

Along with the trend of preserving participation time, voluntary social insurance is also becoming the choice of many freelance workers who want to maintain a "long journey" with the social security system.

After the business cut labor, Ms. Ha Thi Tham - a garment worker in Bac Ninh - switched to small sales to have income. Although the economy is no longer as stable as before, she continues to participate in voluntary social insurance to continue the period of compulsory social insurance contribution.

Now, the older I get, the more I see that pensions and health insurance are very important. Later, if I get sick without insurance, the burden will be very heavy," Ms. Tham said.

The 2024 Law on Social Insurance is considered an important step forward to increase the attractiveness of voluntary social insurance. In addition to pension and death benefits, people participating in voluntary social insurance for 6 months or more in the 12 months before giving birth are also entitled to a maternity allowance of 2 million VND for each child born.

Not only expanding benefits, the policy of supporting voluntary social insurance contributions from the State budget is also continuing to be raised according to Decree 159/2025/ND-CP. In which, the support level for poor households and people living in island communes and special zones increases to 50%; near-poor households increase to 40%; ethnic minorities increase to 30%; other groups increase to 20%.

These changes contribute to reducing financial burdens and encouraging people to participate in long-term social insurance instead of choosing to receive one-time social insurance benefits.

After more than 7 years of implementing Resolution 28-NQ/TW on social insurance policy reform, the coverage of voluntary social insurance has increased rapidly. If in 2018 the whole country had only more than 277,000 participants, by the end of 2025 it had reached more than 2.6 million people, an increase of 13.83% compared to 2024.

In the context of the labor market still facing many fluctuations and the rate of population aging is increasing rapidly, keeping workers in the social insurance system not only helps them ensure their lives in their old age but also contributes to the implementation of the goal of universal social insurance and building a sustainable social security system in the new period.

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