Young workers trade social security for immediate income

Working hard but having difficulty accumulating

Most flexible workers do not participate in social insurance or unemployment insurance, and many people do not even have health insurance. When they are sick, have an accident or lose their job, they have to bear all the costs and risks.

Ms. Le Kim Anh (from Dung Tien commune, Phu Tho province) used to work as a teacher at a private kindergarten in Ha Dong ward (Hanoi). After 6 years of working, in March 2024, Ms. Kim Anh quit her job.

"When I quit my job, my salary was 9.5 million VND/month, plus overtime childcare and some allowances, the total income was less than 11 million VND/month. After 6 years of working, my salary is only equal to 1⁄2 of many of my peers. Not to mention, the working environment did not promise promotion and other opportunities, so I decided to quit my job," said Ms. Kim Anh.

After quitting her job, Ms. Kim Anh did not go to work but decided to stay at home to take care of her children, take them to school, and at the same time trade agricultural products from her hometown to Hanoi to sell. Ms. Kim Anh sells sticky rice, wine, dong vermicelli, village chicken... all year round.

With an income from doing business better than her old job and taking advantage of her time, Ms. Kim Anh is very excited. However, in October 2025, she became ill and discovered a uterine fibroid tumor, and was scheduled for surgery.

"At that time, I was often reminded that when I quit my job, I had completed procedures to receive unemployment insurance and did not participate in social insurance. After the surgery and the time in the post-operative hospital, I spent half of my savings after a year and a half of hard work, said Ms. Kim Anh.

Ms. Dam Thi Bich Linh - Head of Human Resources Department of Viet Anh Mechanical and Metallurgy Company Limited (Hoang Mai Ward, Hanoi) shared that after a period of working as a human resource worker and witnessing the job changes of hundreds of people, she realized that when switching to flexible work, if there are illnesses and accidents, workers not only lose income but also face large treatment costs, no subsidies or compensation like for formal labor.

A common paradox is that flexible workers often have to work at high intensity, prolonging working time to ensure income. However, unstable income makes it difficult for them to accumulate and cannot create a long-term financial foundation. When working age increases or health decreases, flexible working ability will decrease sharply. At that time, returning to the official labor market became difficult due to a lack of professional skills and recognized experience, said Ms. Bich Linh.

Social security disruption - social consequences

Mr. Le Quang Trung - former Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Employment commented that if the trend of young workers leaving the insurance system continues to persist, the risk of social security disruption is very clear. Without pensions, without subsidies when they are old, this group of workers may become the most vulnerable group in the future.

Mr. Trung pointed out the context of recent years, many young workers have proactively left their formal jobs - where there are labor contracts and social insurance - to switch to flexible, freelance forms of employment. This decision helps them solve the immediate income problem, but at the same time, it also exchanges long-term social security benefits. When not participating in social insurance, workers mean eliminating themselves from the "backbone" designed to protect them when facing risks.

"The most obvious fruit is the risk of not having a pension when you are old. For the current young working group, the retirement age is still very far away, causing many people to not really care about long-term benefits. However, if they do not participate in social insurance or do not pay continuously, until they are old enough to work, they will not be eligible for pensions, forced to make ends meet with personal savings - which is very difficult for groups of workers with unstable incomes," said Mr. Trung.

In fact, not only pensions, leaving the insurance system also means losing important allowance regimes such as sickness, maternity, work accidents, and unemployment. When risks occur, workers do not have a support, are easily fall into difficulties, and even fall into poverty. In the long term, this group of workers may become the most vulnerable group in society, dependent on family or receive infrequent social support.

More worryingly, if a large number of young workers are outside the insurance system, the social security fund will be under great pressure. The number of people who contribute decreases while the number of people in need of support increases, which will weaken the sustainability of the system. At that time, the problem of social security is not only the responsibility of workers, but becomes a burden for the State and the whole society.

Experts warn that social security disruptions do not happen suddenly, but do happen silently through each decision to forfeit insurance of employees. Without timely solutions, the consequences will clearly appear after many years, when the younger generation of workers today enters old age without a support for social security.

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