Ministry threatens later retirement age Vietnam is considering raising the age of retirement in the draft revision of Labour Code to balance pension funding and mitigate the effect of an ageing population. The retirement age for women could be raised from 55 to 58, while men’s retirement age will increase from 60 to 62. The draft proposal will be submitted to the National Assembly in 2017. Many people have raised worries about the health issues affecting old people, the high rate of youth unemployment and young people having to wait even longer to enjoy valuable opportunities to get promotions. Minister of Government Office Mai Tien Dung said the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs were researching and gathering opinions on the draft. However, he claimed raising the retirement age was ‘an inevitable trend’ that many countries have followed. Many factors that affect retirement age have changed over the years such as, increasing GDP, better health care. He claimed that the retirement age will be raised in accordance with the economic situation and take into account unemployment rates and incomes for everyone.   Ministry threatens later retirement age Director of the Vietnam Social Insurance Nguyen Thi Minh said currently, Vietnam only required people to contribute to the social insurance fund from 25-30 years to be paid a pension of 75% of the average wage when they retire. Minh said they would increase the contribution period gradually and the first step should be increase retirement age. If they do not make a move now, by 2037, the state budget will have to cover pension fund. "Vietnam's population is ageing. We are lacking experienced and skilful workers and it's a waste to let people retire too soon." she said. "Young people may face difficulties in the first several years but after that, the system will be balanced." Many people said that they were already paying 8% of their monthly wage while employers pay 18%, making a total contribution of 26% to the fund and this was a high rate already. However, Minh said despite the rate, people were enjoying higher benefits than what they contributed as it was 8% of basic wages. Meanwhile, people were given maternity support, sick pay and bereavement payments and 75% of average wages when they retire. She also denied rumours that the management of social insurance fund was not transparent. "We are subject to spot-check audits.” This is not the first time the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs have proposed to increase the retirement age. A proposal to raise the retirement age in 2014 was rejected. Laodong