Many workers have jobs but are not enough to live on
The labor market is showing a paradox: many workers, especially young workers, have jobs but their income is not enough to cover their living expenses.
Income increases slowly, living expenses escalate
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang - deputy head of customer service department of an electromechanical center in Phuong Liet ward (Hanoi) - said that she has worked at the company for nearly 7 years, her current salary is 11 million VND/month, nearly double compared to when she first started working.
28 years old, married and has a daughter in preschool, Ms. Trang said that her current salary must be very basic to ensure expenses and living expenses in the context of the family having to rent a house, her husband earns about 8 million VND/month.
"If I only heard that I had worked for 7 years, double my salary, and had a small position, everyone would think everything was fine for me. But this income makes it increasingly difficult for me to spend in the context of escalating living expenses and everything in the capital has established a new price level," Ms. Trang lamented.
According to Ms. Trang, just counting the rent, her family spends 5.5 million VND per month. The fixed tuition for her daughter is about 3.5 million VND/month. With additional food, electricity and water, living expenses, and a total income of about 19 million VND/month, her family has almost no savings. Not to mention, Ms. Trang's daughter has a congenital respiratory disease, and during the months she had to go to the hospital for treatment, Ms. Trang was even more stressed about spending money.
Not only do families tired of balancing their income to ensure a life in the capital, many young single workers also find it difficult to withstand if their income does not increase.
Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (from Nam Dinh ward, Ninh Binh province) is currently an employee of a notary office in Ha Dong ward (Hanoi). Graduated in Law from the University of Social Work in 2023, Mr. Nam has been attached to his current job since graduating. When he first started working, Mr. Nam's salary for vocational training was about 6 million VND/month, his parents agreed to provide him with additional support so that he could have enough money to rent a house, living expenses, travel expenses, and food. Up to now, despite being an official employee with a salary of about 10 million VND/month, Mr. Nam still lives a very hard life.
"I have to calculate each fixed expenditure in the month, including rent, food, and fuel for travel. For expenses such as going out to eat with friends, getting married... I save about 2 million VND to spend but there are almost no months left. My parents know I am in trouble, so they often send me rice, food... and even give me extra money. After working for more than 2 years, I still feel too stressed about money, the salary is not enough to live on," said Mr. Nam.
Employment quality is not high
Ms. Bui Thi Hoai Anh - Head of Analysis Department of a social survey center in Hanoi, said that one of the important reasons for the situation of young workers having jobs but struggling to make a living is the low quality of jobs. Many young workers work in the service, manufacturing, processing, and trade sectors... with low starting salaries and slow salary increase roadmaps. Not to mention, many current job positions are temporary, flexible, and unstable in terms of working hours and income. Enterprises tighten costs and optimize human resources, making it easy for employees to fall into a situation of reduced working hours, cutting bonuses or not having a stable source of income for a long time.
" Worryingly, this group of workers is not unemployed to receive support but also does not have enough income to ensure a minimum living standard. This is the "grey area" of the labor market - where workers are vulnerable to economic shocks," said Ms. Hoai Anh.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong - former Director of the Institute of Social Labor Science, the situation of "having work but not enough to live on" is becoming a social issue of concern, posing many challenges for labor policy - wages and social security. In large cities, the income of young workers is mainly concentrated at 10 million VND/month, many people face increased spending pressure over time. Prolonged financial pressure causes many young workers to fall into a state of stress, losing motivation to stick with work. Many people choose to change jobs continuously, work more... In the long run, this situation can affect the quality of human resources when workers are not eligible to invest in studying, improving skills - a key factor to improve income.
To remove the paradox of "having a job but not enough to live on", Ms. Huong proposed that the salary policy should continue to be adjusted towards approaching the minimum living standard, accurately reflecting the cost of living, especially in large cities; need to improve skills for young workers, helping them access positions with higher added value; need to expand the social security network for workers with jobs but low income.
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