Voluntary social insurance coverage sees rapid growth in 2019-2020: Conference
The number of people voluntarily joining the social insurance network has grown by 750,000 over the last two years, three times higher than a decade ago, heard an online conference held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on January 11 to introduce tasks for 2021.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The number of people voluntarily joining the socialinsurance network has grown by 750,000 over the last two years, three timeshigher than a decade ago, heard an online conference held by the Ministry of Labour,Invalids and Social Affairs on January 11 to introduce tasks for 2021.
Addressingthe conference, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam praised the labour sector’sachievements last year amid COVID-19, particularly in poverty reduction,ensuring social welfare, employment, and vocational training.
Despitethe impact of the pandemic, more than 1.3 million jobs were created in 2020,meeting 83.3 percent of the goal set for the year and bringing the total numbergenerated in 2016-2020 to nearly 8 million. Sixteen million people, or 33.2 percentof people of working age, joined the social insurance network last year.
TheDeputy PM asked the ministry to focus on improving its performance in implementingsocial policies targeting revolutionary contributors, developing a diverse andmultilayer social welfare network, and enhancing human resources via increasingtraining quality, among other matters.
Herequested that good care be given to those in need as well as people who rendered services tothe country’s revolution at the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.
Thesector revealed targets for 2021 at the conference, including developing aflexible and adaptive labour market that can meet requirements in post-pandemicrecovery, and boosting the quality of vocational education, with a focus onbuilding a high-quality workforce.
Thebuilding of harmonious, stable, and progressive workplace relations is alsoimportant, especially with the appearance of new issues such as salary policies,extended retirement age, and those relating to workplace relations developmentas stipulated in the revised Labour Code, which took effect on January 1./.
Many businesses have scaled down production and reduced their workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a decrease in the number of those participating in social and health insurance, as well as an increase in unpaid social security debts, experts have said.
The Vietnam Social Security (VSS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and on signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on supporting health insurance implementation on November 6.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on November 16 attended the launch ceremony of the “VssID - Digital Social Insurance” – the mobile application of the Vietnam Social Security (VSS).
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has directed Vietnam Social Security (VSS) to focus on expanding coverage of compulsory and voluntary social insurance and raising public awareness of its importance.
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Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA) 
