Chapter 4
Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam
Dang Nguyen Anh

Abstract
This paper utilizes the data from the Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth (SAVY) to
outline the current situation of work and employment of Vietnamese youths, arguing that
their school-to-work transition is quite limited. With a special focus on identifying risk andprotective factors during the school-to-work transition of youth, the paper examines thehealth risk behaviors of youth groups with different work experience and the ability ofyoung people to be employed given their demand for jobs, skills, training, and capability towork. The findings reveal that the family in which a young person lives serves as an important factor in determining the youth employment experience. The paper concludes with policy implications aimed at improving the current situation of youth work and employment in
Vietnam as the country enters into a new phase of development.

1. Introduction
Although a considerable amount of information and data relating toyouth and employment does exist in the form of various surveys as well asother scattered sources within Vietnam, there has been no comprehensive
analysis of national-level data. Despite the seriousness of the youth unemployment and underemployment problem, there is limited information about work
experience and health outcomes associated with it for young people in Vietnam.
This paper is aimed at filling this gap. It is prepared with the belief that if weknow what improves outcomes for our youth, we can then put into place policies, programs and services that take advantage of existing opportunities while
avoiding some of the risks along the way. The following objectives are pursued
in brief.
• Provide scientific evidence of policy discourse and issues regarding youth
employment in Vietnam,87

Dang Nguyen Anh• Assess differentials in the level and patterns of youth work and employment,• Identify risk and protective factors during the school-to-work transition ofyoung people,• Examine the health risk behaviors of youth groups with different work
experience and employability, and• Draw conclusions and policy implications of the research findings for theformulation of the National Comprehensive Strategy on Youth and Adolescent Health in Vietnam.

2. Overview of Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam
In Vietnam, youth—persons aged 15–24—account for one-fourth of
the total population. This social demographic group made up 22 percent of thelabor force in 2003, with relatively equal proportions of women and men (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs [MOLISA], 2004). They havegreat potential to build on the socio-economic successes of the past 20 years ofreforms. Youth have formed the backbone of Vietnam's economic successthroughout the decade. About two-thirds (67 percent) of youth aged 15–24
work on small family farms and in the informal sector—work characterized by
low quality, underemployment, insecurity and safety hazards (General Statistics
Office of Vietnam [GSO], 2002).
Since the Doi moi (renovation), which was officially introduced in
1986, Vietnam has shifted from a centrally–planned system to a socialist-oriented market economy. Measures were introduced to open up the economy to international markets. The policies called for a multi-sector economy, trade liberalization, foreign direct investment and other reforms. The rapid diversification of
economic activities has led to increased incomes and improved living conditions.
Real GDP growth has been achieved at 7–8 percent per annum since the 1990s.
The proportion of people with per capita expenditure under the poverty line
dropped dramatically by 30 percentage points in just over a decade (World
Bank, 2004). The market transition in Vietnam has brought increased job opportunities for the working population, of which young people form the majority.
The transition to a market economy in Vietnam involved a drastic

88Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

turn in the labor and job markets. It is important to note that these positive
results achieved from Doi moi would have had both direct and indirect effects
on employment, equity and social welfare. In spite of the new opportunities anddiversification that open up economic opportunities, a shift toward a market
economy also involves changes resulting in job losses and layoffs for many
workers. The transition places new constraints on young people who find themselves caught between old and new social norms and values. As a result, their
expectations and perceptions of work diverge. A good job is not just a source ofincome; it also provides economic standing, self-esteem, status and social capital. Unless girls find good jobs, their bargaining power in marriage and control
over their fertility will remain limited. In addition to skills and educational
achievement, the work participation of youth has significant implications fortheir development.
Employment has become a major concern for young people. Youthunemployment and underemployment have increased rather than decreased in
Vietnam (United Nations [UN], 2003). According to official data (MOLISA,
2004), the country’s youth unemployment rate was over 14 percent in 2003
with sharp gender and regional differentials. The age group 15–24 years old
forms the bulk of the unemployed young people (26 percent). Young people
aged 15–24 find it more difficult to get jobs than do adults (25 years of age andabove). For the country as a whole, youth in the labor force are twice as likely
to be unemployed than the adult population. Youth unemployment accounts for
45 percent of all unemployment in Vietnam. The high levels of unemployment
and underemployment in rural areas have resulted in out-migration from agricultural sectors to urban centers. Migrant youth may have special problems in
obtaining employment as they are more likely to leave school at early ages andenter low-paid and unskilled jobs.
However, the unemployment statistics do not reveal the severity ofthe situation. The large size of the youth labor force and the increase in thelabor age population continue to bring heavy employment pressures. The rate of
growth of employment is 2.5 percent per annum while the rate of growth of thelabor force is 3.3 percent per annum. The difference can be defined as new
additions to the unemployed population. The number of youth entering thelabor market is still estimated at 1.4 million each year. This does not include89

Dang Nguyen Anhthose still unemployed from the preceding year (International Labour Office[ILO], 2002). Young entrants into the labor market face severe competition infinding suitable job opportunities. At the heart of the problem is the quantityand quality of work available to young people in Vietnam today.
Many out-of-school youth are working to earn a living for their families in low paid work and petty trade. Apart from low productivity, a lack of job
opportunities can have significant social consequences. Experience from othercountries shows that unemployment can lead to a life of violence, drug abuse,vandalism, crime and other social problems. Early school leavers without regular
employment may turn to risky avenues for income and livelihoods such as prostitution and crime. Some become victims of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking.

90Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

It is important to look at unemployment rates for individuals at allages in addressing the labor force participation of youth. Using the most recent
population census data in Vietnam, Table 1 gives unemployment rates by sex
and age in 1999. The highest rates of unemployment are found among males
and females 15–19 years of age, followed by the age group of 20–24. Males are
relatively more likely to be unemployed than females in all age groups. Unemployment rates for people aged 15–19 are somewhat difficult to interpretbecause lower unemployment rates are associated with higher school attendance. However, the high rates shown in the table clearly indicate that young
people are seeking work opportunities and are often failing to find them.
The situation of underemployment is not encouraging. Underemployed workers are those who are employed but are willing and able to work
more. As shown in Table 2, the total number of underemployed workers
accounted for about 7 percent of the labor force nationwide. Rural workers are
more likely to be underemployed than urban workers (7.4 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively). Notably, the underemployment rates are highest for the
15–19 and 20–24 age groups, regardless of rural-urban differenrials. As
younger workers are more likely to be underemployed than older workers, thepolicy challenge for youth employment is to provide more job opportunities forunderemployed youth so as to help them work full time.
Throughout the process of Doi moi, significant policy efforts havebeen made by the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam to address
problems related to employment in general, and youth employment in particular. Issues of youth work and employment are addressed within general laborand employment policies which aim to reduce the proportion of the unemployed in the economy. To this end, initiatives currently taken by the government to create employment for youth include direct investment to generate newjobs through various national socio-economic development programs, provisionof assitance in the form of loan credit, promotion of the human resources foryoung people, provision of boarding schools for ethnic minority youth,
enhanced universal education, and vocational training programs.
The government of Vietnam understands that investing in young people is investing in the future. As a part of the Socio-economic Development
Strategy for Vietnam (2001–2010), the Vietnam Youth Development Strategy by91

Dang Nguyen Anh2010 has outlined the government’s approach to tackling youth issues (Vietnam
Youth’s Union, 2003). The main objective of the strategy is to strengthen education and support for young people in Vietnam. The first phase identifies fivekey programs: (i) employment for youth; (ii) enhancing the education level andprofessional skills for youth; (iii) developing young scientific capability inorder to upgrade the science and technology qualifications of youth; (iv) fighting crime and social evils among young people; and (v) building up the politicalstance, revolutionary ethics, and socialist patriotism for young people. In addition to the Vietnam Youth Development Strategy, a number of other laws andpolicies are in place, focusing on youth development, employability andencouragement of support for young talents. They can be identified as the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), the implementation of the New Enterprise Law, vocational training programs, and others which
aim directly or indirectly at entrepreneurship, vocational training, job andincome generation, and poverty reduction for young people.
Despite these sound policies and programs, Vietnam has been characterized by a high unemployment rate in urban areas, serious underemployment
in the countryside, a very high proportion of agricultural labor, a remarkably
low ratio of skilled labor, and a large amount of manual labor (ILO, 2002). Too
frequently, a lack of skills and opportunities force Vietnamese youth to accept
inadequate jobs. About 94 percent of the total youth population had no vocational and technical skills in 1999. Initial results from the Survey Assessment ofVietnamese Youth (SAVY) undertaken in late 2003 show that only 5 percent ofyoung people from ethnic minorities have ever had any vocational training,
compared to 21 percent of their Kinh majority counterparts (MOH et al., 2005).
Because of their geographical isolation, lower levels of education and training,
and limited off-farm opportunities, rural and ethnic minority youth have little
exposure to vocational training, employment opportunities, and job generation
initiatives.
Vietnam’s growth rates of the past twenty years of Doi moi have notyielded the expected quantity and quality of new jobs and stable employment.
There are many more new job seekers than the number of jobs created eachyear. To a certain extent, youth unemployment is a reflection of the overall
unemployment situation, which in turn is a reflection of the weakness of the92

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

economy wherein the private sector is slowly developed. Although privatization
invites investment and growth, increased competition continues to force boththe state-owned and private enterprises to streamline their staff. The non-state
sector still plays an insignificant role in the rural economy, which is largely
dominated by agricultural production.
While competition among young people for decent jobs has been
increasing, there is a significant mismatch between the skills and knowledge ofyoung people and the demands of employers. Employers are usually hesitant tohire youth with no or little work experience. It is easier and cheaper to hireskilled adults than to provide inexperienced and untested young people withnew training. Where the work is skilled, recruitment is even more competitive.
Although academic degree holders are often not in great demand, appropriate
skills training is highly regarded by employers. The problem is exacerbated byseveral flaws of the current education and training system as well as the lack of
coordination between the educational and vocational training sector andemployment sector (MOLISA, 2004). Moreover, inadequate services on job
counseling further limit the ability of young people to make informed andappropriate career choices.

3. Descriptions of the Data Source
The present in-depth analysis examines relevant factors associatedwith employment of the Vietnamese youth. The importance of employment foryoung people for subsequent development as well as the central role of the family in raising children through the years of life has provided the rationale forundertaking such an analysis. We frame the analysis in terms of identifying andassessing factors associated with work status and employment experience ofyoung people. It is vital to differentiate the experience of young people, theirwork, and their relative positions in the labor market.
Much of the analysis below draws heavily from SAVY, which is oneof the first nationally representative surveys on a wide range of issues for Vietnamese youth (MOH et al., 2005). While it is impossible to establish time-ordercausality between outcome and independent variables due to the cross-sectional
nature of the SAVY data, results from bivariate analysis are a starting point for93

Dang Nguyen Anhshedding light on how youth employment experience differs depending on individual characteristics and familial conditions. Then, statistically associated factors are assessed using multivariate analysis techniques. The analysis will allow
us to control the confounding effects and identify factors that may prevent
young people from being employed, getting jobs, or receiving vocational training.
Despite its national coverage and representation, SAVY provides noinformation about working conditions, unpaid work, and time-use data, which
would allow us to explore youth employment in a more comprehensive fashion.
Data on communities were not collected by SAVY, except for the information
on type of current residence. It is important, therefore, that youth employment
patterns from SAVY be linked or compared with those obtained from earlier
surveys as well as from future surveys in order to assess changes in youth
employment in relation to the intensive market transitions
Using the risk and protection model for Vietnamese adolescents(Blum, 2004), two different sets of underlying factors can be defined as pertaining to youth work and employment. The first set is various individual characteristics including gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, education, health status,
and indicators of their transition to adulthood, such as experience of child laborand economic migration. In addition, the initiation of risk-taking behavior, suchas substance use, may lead youth to drop out of school and as a result may force
youth into the labor market. The second set of factors of concern is the parental
status and familial conditions that can influence youth employment and workrelated outcomes. At the family level, we are particularly interested in examining factors related to parents and households that affect the school-work transition and employability of youth. For example, many in Vietnam would argue
that high status of parents and family can lead to a better position for children in
the labor market. The research findings reported below will therefore provide
important background and identify factors for considering the basic policy
directions with regard to the linkages among youth employment, schooling,
health, and well-being.

94Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

4. Analysis Results and Discussion
4.1. Characteristics of youth work and employment
4.1.1. Paid work experience
The paid work participation rate of Vietnamese youth is presented inTable 3.

95

Dang Nguyen Anh

The figures provide information on the mean age of respondents
when they entered their first job, in addition to showing the rates of labor force
participation across subgroups at the time of the survey and over the lives of
respondents. From the table, we can see that the age at which young people inVietnam start working for pay varies with individual characteristics. Overall,entry into the labor market comes at a relatively young age (17.4 years). Males
and those currently married begin paid employment at an earlier age than theirfemale and never-married counterparts. The results suggest that single youth
stay at school for a longer duration of time before leaving for work.
The mean age of beginning paid work increases significantly with thelevels of education, suggesting that the lower the education, the earlier young
people start to work. It is likely that school dropouts have to support themselves
and their families in a paid job. Children who worked when they were young
had to leave school and thus have a lower level of educational attainment. The
demand to work for family survival and the cost of education are key reasonsfor dropping out of school and entering the labor market.
The prevalence of substance use is measured by the proportion ofyouth who have ever used the substances. Additional information collected by
SAVY revealed that 41 percent of the survey respondents reported trying alcohol or smoking, although only 0.5 percent reported use of heroin and illicit
drugs. There is, however, no correlation between the age at which young people
began working and their substance use and health condition. Young people withpoor health, physically or mentally, tended to join the labor market at the sameage as others. Compared to their peers, young people having premarital sex
started working relatively late.
As the results show, youth who are members of ethnic minorities tend
to start working earlier than Kinh people (16 and 18 years, respectively). As
expected, young people from families with low economic status began working
at a much earlier age. However, the mean ages for beginning work are not significantly different between those living in families with or without both parents. Young people who are only children tend to enter the labor market at alater age (18 years).
Reflecting social status, the occupations of the parents can influence
the age at which their children begin to work. Children of a professional start96Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

working much later compared with children of unskilled or agricultural workers(20 and 17 years, respectively). Children of unemployed fathers also started towork later, possibly because of fewer job opportunities. The age that young
people begin to work increases from rural areas to towns and to cities. Youngpeople living in rural areas started working at younger ages than urban youth.
The results suggest that in the countryside young people are more likely to faceeconomic hardships and drop out of school. These results also reflect the movement of young educated people from the countryside to towns and cities fortheir higher education.
Turning to the youth experience of paid work, the results show that35 percent of the respondents worked at the time SAVY was taken in 2003.
Also, more than half (55 percent) of the total respondents had worked for pay atsome time during their lives. The patterns of respondents who had ever worked
and were currently working are fairly similar across individual and familial
characteristics. Generally, the proportion of youth who had worked before wasabout 20 percentage points higher than the the proportion who were working at
the time of the survey. This suggests that some young people had started working for pay at early ages but left the labor market for a number of reasons. The
lower level of currently working youth may also indicate the low capacity of
job creation and poor absorption of young workers in the formal labor market.
If seasonal or informal work had been asked and included in the data, the levelof working youth might have been higher. In fact, some young people holdpart-time work for pay while they are still in school, but they may not report
this as work. To some extent, the measurement of work may also be influenced
by what youth consider to be work. Many young people who work casually in
the informal economy do not actually think of themselves as “working.”
Youth work differs significantly by gender, age and marital status.
The level of labor force participation is higher for the married group, andincreases dramatically with age. Conversely, the labor force participation ofyouth declines with increases in general education. In other words, leaving
school at an early age pushes young people into the labor market. Although thelevel of youth employment is high for the most educated group (college/university level), it is notable that only half of this group was working at the time of
SAVY. The rest of them might still have been searching for suitable jobs. The

97

Dang Nguyen Anh

results indicate some difficulties in skill mismatching for university graduatesin the present job market.
Not surprisingly, a very high proportion of young people reporting
economic migration or child labor experience have ever worked for pay (Table3). Moreover, two notable findings emerge with some particular subgroups.
First, youth’s experiences with risk-taking behaviors, such as substance use or
premarital sex, are associated with higher rates of work. One reason might bethat young people who leave school and begin to work may be more independent from their families. This could allow them more freedom to experimentwith substances and sex. Second, a relatively higher proportion of young people
with poor health work for pay. Why these associations exist is not clear; however, it is evident that education is protective against a range of health risk behaviors. Conversely, those who are at risk for early school leaving and early work
may also be at risk for a range of other health compromising experiences. Poor
health, substance use, and initiation of premarital sex can operate as harmful
factors for youth’s exposure to risk at work and during their transition to adulthood. More research needs to be directed at untangling the complex relationshipbetween these factors and job outcomes.
The results show that young people living in families where both parents are living are less likely to be in paid employment. The higher the economic status of the family, the less likely are youth to work and vice versa. Likewise, children of unemployed fathers with many children are more likely to be
employed than those whose fathers have a job and have fewer children. These
results are reasonable given that the economic hardships of families push young
people into the labor market.
Work experience of young people is also affected by whether they
live in urban centers or rural areas. Compared to rural youth, those living incities or towns are more likely to participate in paid work at higher participation
rates. Most of this difference is attributed to the urban opportunities to work for
pay and for youths to earn cash income for themselves and for their families.
4.1.2. Occupation and industry
We now focus on occupations and industry that young people reported in the survey. The information reveals sectors where young people are work-98Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

ing for pay. The analysis refers to working youth. About 46 percent of the
respondents, who reported not working for pay at the time of SAVY, areexcluded in this analysis. In terms of occupation, two-thirds (68 percent) ofworking youth fall within the occupational categories of “simple” jobs (i.e.,
unskilled labor in agriculture or non-agriculture activities). Trained handicraft
workers make up the second-largest classification of young workers.
Vietnam is primarily a rural economy with 75 percent of people living in rural areas and agriculture remaining a dominant economic sector. This isreflected in the pattern of youth employment as reported in SAVY. Figure 1

99

Dang Nguyen Anhdemonstrates that a majority of youth in Vietnam is engaged in farming and thatmost young workers lack skills. Their work is the least likely to be recognized
as valuable as skilled workers and diminishing their income. This suggests that
more resources are needed to engage young people in skill-training, and to create jobs.
As shown in Figure 2, the majority (57 percent) of working youth
engaged in the labor force are self-employed, mainly in farming, while 13 percent of working youth are involved in small family enterprises. Additional
information from the SAVY data reveals that two-thirds of the self-employedyouth worked as unskilled agricultural workers at the time of the survey. They
seem to be on the low end of the pay scale and are faced with the most disadvantage and hardship. The remainders of working youth are classified in otherinstitutional sectors.
The figures show that private sector and joint-venture sectors eachaccounts for less than 6 percent of working youth, suggesting that limited
opportunities are open to young workers. Even the government sector provides
only 7 percent of jobs for currently working youth. It appears that various benefits associated with government work—cash income, skill development, social
status, experience, and development opportunities—are not open to most young
people today. As reforms to the public and private sector continue, the rate ofstate employment for youth is likely to decline further.
4.1.3. School and work
School in addition to work is an important activity for young people.
Education is important for both human development and life skill development.
However, as youths are often the main sources of social security and strong
labor for their families, parents deploy young people for work. According to the
SAVY results, 20 percent of school drop-outs leave school as a result of thelabor demand for supporting the family. The SAVY data reveal that only 40
percent of youth were in school at the time of the survey, including those at college or university. About 35 percent were out of school but were working.
Interestingly, 25 percent of the respondents were neither attending school nor
working. A much higher proportion of females (30 percent) than males (19.5
percent) belongs to this category (Figure 3).

100Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

The large proportion of young people not working and out of school
is a concern from a policy perspective. Why are the youth neither working nor
studying? Does a lack of opportunities for employment put them in such a situation? Does the demand for work in the household keep them from attending
school? According to SAVY data, about 4 percent of the respondents neverwent to school, and 20 percent of the out-of-school youth reported that they left
school because of obligations to work for family survival.
We next identify the characteristics of the three different groups ofyouth as reported in SAVY: at school, at work, and neither studying nor working. Table 4 presents the distribution of the three groups in school-to-work transitions. The group of currently in-school youth includes mainly single, female
teenagers aged 14–17, with secondary education. Very few in this group had
migrated for economic reasons, although about 46 percent had experience withchild labor. Members of this group have better health, lower risk-taking behaviors, and live in families with relatively higher economic status. Those in school
are more likely to live with living parents, and their fathers are more likely to be
professionals.
In contrast, the group of out-of-school youth who are not working
tends to be young adult males aged 18–25. Most have a primary or lower sec-101

Dang Nguyen Anh

ondary education, although a number of them hold college or university
degrees. The high proportion of college and university graduates in this groupindicates a mismatch between current human resources and labor market
demands in Vietnamese society. Compared to their counterparts in the firstgroup, members of this group are more likely to have migrated in search of102

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

work. A greater proportion of them live in low-income families with only one
living parent. Their fathers tend either to be unemployed or to work as unskilledfarmers in rural areas.
The third group includes youth who already dropped out or finishedschool, and who at the time of the survey were working for pay. Members of
this group share mixed characteristics with those of the other two groups. In
particular, they are mainly single females of older ages who generally have a
primary or lower secondary education. Many young people with paid employment have migrated for economic reasons. A small proportion of them haveexperienced substance use and premarital sex.
Employed youth tend to live in families with average economic status; their fathers are more likely to be unemployed or to work in low-skilledjobs. Like the in-school group, and compared to the second group, more members of this group currently reside in urban areas than in rural ones.
Compared with their counterparts and especially with in-school
youth, those who are not in school or in employment have many more risks andmany fewer protective factors than their peers. Youth without links to social
institutions at school and work may be less protected in the transition fromschool to work. The fact that one out of four youth are in this category should
be a concern for policy makers.
4.2. Youth employability
4.2.1. Current status of youth employability
The concept of employability contains two major aspects: the competence and skills for the current market (or the supply side) and the access toemployment opportunities (on the demand side) (see Appendix 1). It must beemphasized that there are several different youth labor markets. SAVY provides information on job search and vocational training for young people as partof an examination of employability of Vietnamese youth.
Table 5 displays the rates of job search and vocational training among
young people as reported in SAVY. Of the total sample, about 15 percent
reported that they were looking for jobs at the time of the survey. There are no
significant differences in the rates of job search across gender, marital status,and ethnicity. The likelihood that young people are engaged in job search103Dang Nguyen Anh

increases with age, number of siblings in the household, and levels of educational attainment. Notably, 31 percent of youth with college/university degrees
were looking for employment at the time of the SAVY, suggesting that there
may be some weaknesses in systems for education, training, and placement.
Although there are also factors on the demand side, there is a general consensus
that the skills taught and knowledge learned are mismatched in Vietnam with104

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

those needed by employers in the labor market. This continues to pose a problem for young people. Most youth want to go to university and see higher education as the ticket to the future. Over 90 percent of the current school children
want to enter university, as reported by SAVY; however, enterprises andemployers are not committed to employ them as they tend to value experience
over academic coursework. More and more jobs today do not require an academic education. Unless changes are made, this will continue to be a big problem in the future.
The SAVY results also show that higher proportions of young people
with poor health or risk-taking behaviors look for jobs as compared to those
without such behaviors. Not surprisingly, young people living with only one
parent are more likely to search for jobs, and the demand for employment
among youth decreases with increasing family economic status and father’soccupational status. A relatively higher proportion of urban youth look for jobs
compared to their counterparts living in towns or rural areas.
Turning to job training, 19 percent of the respondents have been
involved in vocational training with 13.4 percent of the total sample having
completed such training and 5.6 percent in the process of being trained. As
shown in Table 5, there are again significant differences in the rates of job
training by gender and marital status. However, a fairly small proportion of ethnic minority youth received job training as compared to the Kinh youth. This isprobably due to limited access of these groups to training facilities. Other
groups facing difficulties in gaining access to vocational training are: those
aged 14–17 years old, young people with little education, youth who have beenin child labor, those from poor families, and rural youth.
Of those who had received vocational training, two-thirds (67 percent) found a job with the skills they were provided. One-third (33 percent)could not find the job for which they had received training. The SAVY data do
not indicate whether these young people already had a job when they received
the training. However, the data can show the varying experiences in youth
employability. The better-employed youth include those of older ages (18–25)
and those with primary or lower secondary education. They are more likely tobe Kinh youth and living in rural families with low or average economic status.
Noteworthy is that the rate of employability among children of farmers is high-105Dang Nguyen Anhest. These results are not surprising as they reflect the type of work and job
training that young people receive. As already mentioned, rather than become
unemployed, these young people become self-employed or work in small family enterprises. The SAVY data do not, however, specify the types and contents
of vocational training or the actual skills and knowledge youth received.
4.2.2. Youth’s aspirations and attitude toward work
Despite the severity of the other challenges facing the young generation, 50 percent of young people identify employment as the most important
issue relating to their future. Two-fifths (41 percent) of SAVY respondents recommended that the government’s highest priority should be increasing opportunities for jobs in terms of improving the lives of youth. Education alone is clearly not the answer for young people’s successful transition from school to work.
It is worth mentioning that the aspirations and attitude toward work
among the young are not significantly different for different groups defined byindividual and family characteristics (results not shown). This suggests thatyoung people today, regardless of their differences, are all concerned about
employment opportunities and decent jobs. It is important that more efforts
should be put into job creation in Vietnam by more effectively linking education and training to economic growth and the global economy.
4.2.3. Youth schooling, employment, and health
Given the cross-sectional nature of the SAVY data, the present analysis examines the correlation—not the causal relationship—between employment and health. Specifically, what is the relationship between being out ofschool, unemployed, or employed with a range of health risk behaviors such as
substance use, premarital sex, and contraceptive practice? To the best of ourknowledge, this is the first study to look at the links among these variables.
The results in Table 6 indicate that young females are less likely to be
exposed to risks than are young males. Youth who are in school are less likely
to experience substance use, premarital sex, and poor health. The pattern is similar for young men and young women. The results suggest that schooling is a
protective factor. Unfortunately, the sample was too small to look at differencesin contraceptive use.

106Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

Young males who are currently looking for jobs are most likely to be
exposed to health risk behaviors. The level of substance use among male youth
is double that among female youth. Those who are unemployed or who arelooking for jobs tend to experience premarital sex and poor health. Likewise,
male migrants are likely to be most exposed to these risks. In general, it
becomes clear that migrant youth, the unemployed, those looking for jobs, andthose who are out of school are most vulnerable. Effective measures must be
taken to safeguard these youth groups from health risks and enhance theirdevelopment.
4.3. Factors associated with youth employment and employability: Multivariate results
Although the above descriptive analysis has partly described relationships between youth characteristics and employment outcomes, our main goalin multivariate analyses is to identify key factors associated with youth employment and to gauge their net effects, controlling for the confounding factors.

107

Dang Nguyen Anh

Two main aims are involved here. The first is to assess whether there
are systematic variations in employment outcomes among different groups ofyoung people. The second is to better understand how school status affects
work experience. To do this the analysis will explore the relationships between
employment and other factors. We ask whether the effects of individual characteristics are shaped by family status, particularly that of the fathers. In this sec-108

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

tion, due to space limitations, we present the regression estimates of the multivariate analysis. The model specifications are presented in detail in Appendix 2.
Readers unfamiliar with regression techniques might wish to skip the figuresand proceed to the below summary of the findings.
Table 7 summarizes the results of a series of regression estimates that
identify factors associated with the probabilities of work, job search, and job
training among Vietnamese youth as reported in SAVY. Estimated odd ratios
are used with levels of statistical significance chosen at p<0.05. A value of odd
ratios greater than 1 indicates that members of the sub-group of youth have ahigher likelihood of work, job search, and job training. On the other hand, avalue under 1 suggests that those belonging to the sub-group have lower probabilities to work for pay, to look for jobs, and to receive job training.
The probability to work is higher for males than for females. The
probability is significantly increased with the age of youths but decreases withhigher levels of education. Notably consistent with the bivariate analysis, thegreatest odds ratio of those young people with university degrees currently
looking for jobs suggests that this group of university graduates represents a
hidden unemployment problem. The supply of academic degree holders has
actually exceeded the demand of employers and society.
Ethnicity and types of place of residence also significantly affect theprobability to work: Kinh youth and urban youth were more likely to be in
employment. The patterns of effects also show that young people who havebeen in child labor and who have migrated for economic opportunities are more
likely to be currently working. Perhaps early childhood work and previous
experience of economic migration can provide young people with labor market
practice. They are more likely to currently work or look for jobs, which could
subsequently lead to increased work experience, making it easier to findemployment.
Among the covariates describing the family characteristics of theyoung person, the multivariate results show that economic status is negatively
associated with the probability to work. The higher the status, the lower the
likelihood for youth to work, other things being equal. For example, young people living in families with high economic status are 30 percent less likely towork for pay than those from families with low economic status. This suggests

109

Dang Nguyen Anhthat youth from better-off families tend to be in higher education and hence not
at work. The results also show that living with or without both living parents is
not a significant predictor of youth employment. Other aspects such as numberof siblings do not show a significant influence on work in the multivariate
results.
Closer examination of data on youth employment shows that males
are less likely to be looking for a job, suggesting the gender gap in the labormarket. Among indicators of school-to-work transition and transition to adulthood, the effect of marital status is significant with single persons being more
likely to be job seekers. The probability that a young person is seeking employment increases significantly with age and education. Young people having earlier experience with child labor and economic migration are more likely to lookfor jobs, though many of them are currently working. To some extent, theobtained results have suggested that both underemployment and demand forbetter jobs are always primary concerns of young people today.
Interestingly, there is no significant statistical difference in young
people’s probability to look for jobs by paternal occupation and place of residence. In general, where the household is located is not an important factor in
determining the likelihood of job search. These results point to the high demand
for work and suggest that youth unemployment has become a critical problem
in society for rural and urban regions alike.
The effects of individual and familial factors on job training aresomewhat different from their effects on youth work and job search. Controlling for other factors, gender difference in job training disappears. While thelikelihood of receiving job training increases with age, it declines with higher
education. This may be due to the fact that youth in general education are lesslikely to receive job training, whereas those who drop out of school are more
likely to seek job training.
Not surprisingly, family economic status is strongly associated with
job training. The relationship proves to be linear in that the higher the status, thehigher the probability of a youth’s receiving job training. Children of non-farming fathers have a higher probability to be trained vocationally and hence have ahigher chance of being employed. Children of farmers are likely to find jobs on
the farm that do not require outside training. The effects are statistically strong-110Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

ly significant. Except for the group of youth living in towns, there are no differences in access to job training opportunities between rural and urban youths.

5. Conclusion and Policy Implications
The evidence that rigorously quantifies youth employment and theirschool-to-work transition is quite limited. The strength of the analysis presented
here is twofold: First, we present a comprehensive analysis linking youth
employment to schooling and employment to health. Second, the regression
analysis, although very limited in scope as is any multivariate model, does
attempt to capture some of the complexity of the factors affecting youth work
status and employability. The results are thus more robust than any bivariate
analysis performed in previous descriptive studies. The obtained results haveconfirmed many of the factors included in recent nationwide policy discourse
regarding youth employment.
The market transition in Vietnam involved a drastic turn in young
people’s transition from school to work. Today, Vietnamese youth generally
enter the labor force out of economic necessity in order to help reduce the vulnerability of their households and their own livelihoods. Our analysis explored
the aspect that different individual and family conditions lead to different workand health-related outcomes among Vietnamese youth. The significance of anumber of important factors—such as gender, age, education, ethnicity, andfamily economic status—suggests that these factors are strong determinants ofyouth employment. To a large extent, they define the supply-side structure of
the youth labor market. Certain disadvantaged groups of youth such as single
females, the relatively young, and those living with one living parent in poorfamilies are more likely to look for jobs today. Being either unemployed orunderemployed, these groups of youth wish to improve their situation by looking for employment and suitable jobs.
The results of our analyses, both bivariate and multivariate, strongly
suggest that family serves as an important factor in determining the youth
employment experience. In fact, the family in which a young person lives is thestrongest predictor of his or her future in the job market. The significant effectsof paternal occupation, parental availability, and family economic status are111Dang Nguyen Anhnotable in the analytical results. The probability to work is reduced when young
people live in better-off families. Likelihood to receive job training is enhanced
when the father is in a professional or technical job, when the youth belongs to
the Kinh group, and when the youth is residing in urban centers. Families canprovide significant social and financial supports to enable the favorable transition from school to work for young people. All these factors combine to makethe placement and promotion of their employment easier in the labor market.
The strength of the analysis is also reflected in the statistically significant effects of factors reflecting young people’s transition from school to workand to adulthood. Young people’s risk-taking behavior has also associated closely with their work status. One piece of evidence is the fact that large proportionsof unemployed youth try smoking and alcoholic drinking (which are acceptablebehaviors among adults) and that they begin to initiate these behaviors during
their school-to-work transition. Specifically, out-of-school youth, migrant youth,
and those who are unemployed or are job-seekers are most likely to be exposedto health risk behaviors. This means that in the near future, the prevalence ofrisk-taking behaviors and subsequent health outcomes will probably increase
with youth leaving school or the parental home and engaging more in work forpay. To prevent such a trend, effective measures and information that are strong
enough to change their attitudes and behavior should be reinforced.
The overall results of the present analysis suggest that not only will ascientific study of the subject help improve our knowledge of the determinantsof youth employment, but it will also provide us with reliable evidence todesign policies to assist young people in today’s labor market. In some ways,
the study results confirm and strengthen the current policy directions concerning youth employment. Following are policy implications drawn from the findings within this paper.
First, the youth is a diverse social demographic group with different
characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, ethnic origin, levels of education, siblings and parents, family conditions, and place of residence. The conventional understanding of youth as a homogenous group is no longer relevant:
it is imperative for policy and program planners to avoid basing their decisions
on such a misunderstanding. Policies must be therefore specific enough to meetthe needs of each of these groups. The formulation of policies for youth, includ-112

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

ing employment policies, should recognize that young people (between the agesof 14 and 25) include different social and demographic groups, have different
needs, and are shaped by different sets of factors in their school-to-work transition. Their pathways to employment and health development are also diverse.
Second, given the disproportion of youth currently working in smallfamily business and self-employed in the agricultural sector, it is important tocoordinate with local authorities and communities to help young people startand improve their own businesses. This includes the generation of job opportunities through small and medium enterprise development. For example, traditional craft production in the Red River Delta provinces should be developed
and linked to international export markets to create proper jobs with adequate
incomes, ensuring non-farming income for rural youth and their families. It isalso important to make it easy to start and run enterprises through training andcredit to provide more and better jobs for young women and men. As young
people are often the only source of social security of their families, the need ofparents to deploy their young children to work is salient and critical. Too often
availability of jobs is limited to the most educated and urban residents, sidelining young females, ethnic minorities, and rural youths. Reducing socio-economic differences should be a policy priority. Efforts aimed at poverty reduction, employment promotion, and income generation for families can limit theneed for children to seek economic livelihoods.
Third, enhancing the employability of Vietnamese youth first requires
the strengthening of the macro-level linkages between the education system andthe labor market. Education and academic degrees are only a means to an end
and are not an end in themselves. The need to improve the quality of education,
as well as the need to adapt curricula in schools and vocational centers to produce the appropriate skills and job experience as demanded by employers andcompetitiveness of the labor market, has already been discussed. Employability
requires new sets of appropriate skills which are usable in labor markets. In
order to address these issues, it will be necessary to build capacity and accountability of employment services and job counseling and to improve the linkagesof job training to labor market needs.
Fourth, minimizing skill mismatches and matching skills to demand isa key to improving youth employability. The high proportion of university

113Dang Nguyen Anhgraduates currently looking for jobs and the fact that only over half of them arein a job with the training they received indicate the huge gap between supply
and demand for education, training, and experience in the rapidly changing
labor market in Vietnam. A central policy issue is the mismatch between the
expectations and reality of the labor market. At present, university educationand obtaining academic degrees remain highly desired by young people andtheir parents as the ticket to the future. Although practical skills rather than textbook knowledge are required in today’s labor market, vocational training is perceived as being less prestigious because it does not help young people tobecome state officials or to achieve upward mobility in the society. As a result,
those with university and higher education are more likely to be unemployed orwork at jobs unsuitable to their education. The labor market tends to value
experience over academic qualifications. Policy makers should consider lowering the investment in expanding or constructing new colleges and universities.
Effective messages, better information, and job orientation should therefore beprovided to young people, their peers, and their families in order to change attitudes and behaviors about education and training.
Fifth, effectively addressing youth employment also needs a comprehensive approach to overcome specific risks increasingly faced by certain disadvantaged groups of youth. Issues related to vulnerability and health of unemployed, migrant, or out-of-school youth are key policy concerns. In this regard,
the issue of gender is particularly interesting as the results show the relatively
higher health risks for young males. While it is necessary to provide special
support to help raise the status of these disadvantaged groups of youth in thelabor market, it is very important to reduce harmful aspects of their exposure to
health risks. In the current context, the family and its support system—both
financial and human—is essential for young people who are leaving school andin the process of entering the labor market.

114Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

References

Blum, R. 2004. The Risk and Protection Model for Vietnamese Adolescents: A Framework for SAVY Analysis. Hanoi: World Heath Organization and Ministry of Health,Vietnam.
Committee for Population, Family and Children (CPFC) and Population Reference
Bureau (PRB). 2003. Adolescents and Youth in Vietnam. Hanoi.
Dang, N. A. 2004. “The Population of Adolescents and Adolescent Reproductive Health:
From Characteristics to Policy Directions.” Paper presented at the First Public
Health Association Conference, 14–16 Dec, 2004. Hanoi.
General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO). 2002. Vietnam Population and Housing
Census 1999: Monograph on Labor and Employment in Vietnam. Hanoi: Transportation Publishing House.
International Labour Office (ILO). 2002. “Employment for Vietnamese Youth: Situationand Solution.” Paper presented at the ILO/Japan Tripartite Regional Meeting onYouth Employment in Asia and the Pacific, 27 Feb–1 Mar, 2002. Bangkok.
Mensch, B. S.; N. A. Dang; and H. C. Wesley. 2000. Adolescents and Social Change in
Vietnam. Hanoi: Institute of Sociology, and Population Council.
Mensch, B. S.; H. C. Wesley; and N. A. Dang. 2003. “Adolescents in Vietnam: Looking
beyond Reproductive Health.” Studies in Family Planning 34, No. 4: 249–262.
Ministry of Health (MOH), General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), World HealthOrganization (WHO), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2005. The
Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth. Hanoi: Ministry of Health.
Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). 2004. Labor-Employment in Vietnam 1996–2003. Center for Informatics, MOLISA. Hanoi: The Publishing House of Social Labor.
Survey Assessment on Vietnamese Youth (SAVY). 2004. Draft SAVY Report. Hanoi:
Ministry of Health, and World Health Organization.
United Nations. 2003. “Challenges to Youth Employment in Vietnam.” Discussion
Paper No. 3. Hanoi: United Nations.
World Bank. 2004. Vietnam Development Report 2004: Poverty. Joint Report of theGovernment of Vietnam and Donors, Consultative Group Meeting, December 2–3,
2003. Hanoi.
Vietnam Youth’s Union (VYU). 2003. Vietnam’s Youth Development Strategy by 2010.

115

Dang Nguyen Anh(Issued as an attachment to Decision 70/2003/QD-TTg approved by the Prime Minister on 29 April, 2003). Hanoi.

116Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

Appendix 1: Key Concepts of Employment in this Paper

Employment: According to Article 13, Chapter II of the Labour Code of Vietnam, “any working activities which generate income and are not prohibited by laws are recognized as employment.” Employment can be defined in
the forms of: (1) employment which is paid in cash or in kind or by mutual help, (2) self-employment to earn income for oneself, or (3) activities of
production, business and service for one’s own family and no wage orsalary is received.
Employed: Employed are all persons aged 15 and over in the labor force andthose who are defined as being involved in one or more of the above-mentioned forms of employment in the last seven days. Employed youth referto those aged 15–24 who are involved in employment in the labor force.
Employability: This concept refers to the ability of a person to be employed
given his/her demand for jobs, skills, training, and capability to work. The
concept of employability contains two major aspects: the competence andthe access to employment opportunities. Vocational training is usually ameans to help young people to achieve their career goals. Youth employability relates to the ability of young people in obtaining jobs in the labormarket.
Unemployed: Unemployed are all persons aged 15 and over who were not
employed during the last seven days and (1) had actively looked for workand (2) had been available. Because of lack of skills, and the hurdle associated with obtaining the first job, the level of youth unemployment has
always been higher than the rate of general unemployment.
Underemployment: The state of employed persons who were employed but
worked less than 36 hours in the last seven days and would have been
available for work if the job had been available.
Labor force: Labor force or economically active population includes all people
who are at age 15 or above and are employed, and those who are not
employed but able to work and have a demand for a job. In this regard,
those outside the labor force refer to the economically inactive populationthat includes all people who are aged 15 or above but who are excluded117Dang Nguyen Anhfrom the employed component and from the unemployed.
Working age people: People at the working age outside the labor force (equivalent to economically inactive population at the working age) include all
people who are of working age (men aged from 15 to 60 and women from15 to 55) and are excluded from the employed component and from theunemployed.
Economically inactive people: People who are economically inactive include
those who are going to school, are serving as housekeepers for their own
families, are old or ailing for a long time, are handicapped, or are unable to
work.

118

Youth Work and Employment in Vietnam

Appendix 2: Model Descriptions of Multivariate Analysis

Three observed outcomes (work, employment, and vocational training) can be treated as dependent variables for inclusion in the multivariate
regression models.
The first variable indicates whether or not the respondent was working for pay at the time of the survey. The second dependent variable is whether
the respondent was looking for a job, which reflects the access to the job market
among youth. The third work-related variable indicates whether the respondent
received any vocational/job training. This variable allows us to compare twogroups of young people: those who have received some form of vocational
training and those who have not.
As such, all three variables are binary; they are coded 1 with a positive response and 0 with a negative response. The independent variables may beclassified into the following two groups: measures of socioeconomic characteristics of the individual youth and those of the family. A macro-level factor, suchas type of current place of residence, works as a control variable in the statistical models. The analysis is applied to all surveyed young people who wereinterviewed in the Survey Assessment on Vietnamese Youth (SAVY).
Because the dependent variables are binary, logistic regression models can be used. The model to be estimated for each measure of work-related
behaviors can be specified as follows:log [p/(1-p)] = a + ßiXi +εi,

(1)

where

• log [p/(1-p)] is the log odds of the health care behavior, which
represents the dependent variable,• a is the intercept,• ß is the estimated regression coefficient,• X is the independent variable whose effect is examined, and• ε is the regression disturbance term.
iii

The variables included in the model represent the effect of a wide
range of factors influencing youth work and employment. We assume that Xi
are statistically exogenous toεi so that equation (1) would produce consistent119

estimates of the ßi as well as their standard errors. This is a strong and potentially objectionable assumption. For categorical variables, a positive coefficientindicates an increase in the log odds for the particular category relative to a reference category, while a negative coefficient indicates decreased log odds. By
exponentiating the coefficients we obtain estimates of the relative odds (oddratios) associated with a particular category of a covariate of interest. We use z
test to assess the significance of the impact of individual variables on the odds
of being employed, looking for jobs, or receiving vocational training as
opposed to the reference category. Using the SPSS/Win, we have estimated themodels using the above-described equation (1).

120