The Fish and the Fishing Rod: Unemployment Insurance in Vietnam

Abstract

As the second most populated country in the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam is drawing attention of both internal and external recruiters to take full advantage of its young and abundant workforce. Using firsthand data from Vietnam, this paper investigates the unemployment insurance scheme in the country based on important indicators such as coverage, qualifying conditions and benefits, and analyzes challenges of the scheme under economic changes. The paper addresses the original 2009 version and its gradual modifications until 2015. A comparison between the 2009 version and revised version is presented to understand the reformations on the unemployment insurance and how these adjustments improve the current unemployment insurance condition.