The primary social issues in Vietnam are rural and child poverty.

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

scores 37.6 in the Gini coefficient index, with the top 10% accounting for 30.2% of the nation’s income and the bottom 10% receiving 3.2%. In 2008, 14% of the population lives below the national poverty line of US$1.15 per day.

Rural poverty

Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

grew at an average of 7.5% from 2000-2008. The country was able to reduce poverty fate from 58.1% in the 1990s to 14% in 2008. While the country grows and overall poverty drops, urban dwellers benefitted more than their rural counterparts and a wide

income disparity There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...

grew between the rich and poor. The regions with the highest relative poverty include the north-west, north-central, central highlands, central coast and north-east. These regions do not offer the resources to conduct agricultural activities, the main source of income. The poorest rural people live in remote areas with small plots of low quality land that is unsuitable for farming. Similarly, people living along the coastline are faced with harsh climate conditions that restrict farming.

Child Poverty

Child poverty declined from 65.2% in the 1993 to 26.7% in 2004. The Survey on Household Living Standards data set from 2008 showed that 1 in 3 children in Vietnam is poor. Despite the drop, child poverty remains much higher than the national poverty rate. Many children lack access to the basic necessities of food, water, education and sanitation. This is especially so in rural areas.UNICEF-Child Poverty in East Asia and Pacific.Retrieved on 13 February 2012.
/ref> The government and United Nations Children’s Fund (

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

) developed a multidimensional approach to tackle child poverty. “If children grow up in poverty, they are more likely to be poor in adulthood as well. Reducing child poverty will, therefore, not only improve children’s lives today, but also contribute to reducing adult poverty in the long run”. stated Jesper Morch, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam.

References

{{reflist Politics of Vietnam Society of Vietnam