In response to the prolonged decline in fertility rates, particularly in major cities and key economic regions in Southern Vietnam, Vietnam has fundamentally shifted its national population strategy from “family planning and birth limitation” to “sustainably maintaining the replacement fertility rate (an average of 2.1 children per woman)”.
The age of 35 is identified as a “golden threshold” for reproductive health, aimed at minimizing obstetric complications, reducing the risk of congenital abnormalities in children, and ensuring the quality of the future workforce. To achieve this objective, the State has introduced and implemented a coordinated system of social security, financial, employment, and housing policies to encourage women to marry before the age of 30 and have two children before reaching the age of 35.
This article provides a detailed analysis of the relevant legal grounds, summarizes the preferential policies available to couples, and offers practical guidance on how to maximize access to these benefits.
1. Legal Grounds Governing Policies to Encourage Childbirth
The benefits and support packages available to women who have two children before the age of 35 are provided for under the following legal instruments:
- Decision No. 588/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister: Approving the Program for Adjusting Fertility Rates to Suit Different Regions and Population Groups through 2030, with a particular focus on piloting and expanding financial and housing support packages for women who have two children before the age of 35 in low-fertility areas.
- Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health: Providing guidance on certain matters to enable local authorities to introduce reward and support policies for organizations and individuals making positive contributions to population-related activities, including specific criteria for rewarding women who have two children before the age of 35.
- 2024 Law on Social Insurance: Comprehensively regulating maternity benefits, lump-sum childbirth allowances, and post-maternity convalescence and health recovery leave for employees.
- 2023 Law on Housing: Establishing preferential mechanisms for access to social housing for young households with two or more children.
- Resolutions of the People’s Councils of centrally governed provinces and cities: Specifying monetary rewards and direct healthcare subsidies for women who have two children before the age of 35, in accordance with each locality’s budgetary capacity.
2. Five Specific Categories of Preferential Policies
2.1. Direct Cash Rewards and Certificates of Merit Funded by Local Budgets
Pursuant to Point b, Clause 2, Article 3 of Circular No. 01/2021/TT-BYT, in provinces and cities with low fertility rates (such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Long An, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Bac Lieu, and Can Tho):
- Women who have two children before the age of 35 may be awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of the district-level People’s Committee, together with a cash reward.
- The specific cash reward is determined by the provincial-level People’s Council based on the local budget’s capacity (typically ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 5,000,000, or in the form of support for the cost of purchasing the child’s first-year health insurance card).
2.2. Support for Premarital Health Check-ups and Prenatal and Newborn Screening
- Free or subsidized prenatal and newborn screening: Pregnant women and women giving birth who fall within the scope of childbirth incentive policies may receive financial support for basic fetal abnormality screening packages (including screening for Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, and thalassemia) and newborn screening packages (heel-prick blood tests to screen for congenital hypothyroidism, G6PD deficiency, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia).
- Comprehensive health insurance coverage: The list of medical procedures and medicines supporting reproductive healthcare and maternal and infant care during pregnancy continues to be expanded under the health insurance reimbursement scheme at public hospitals.
2.3. Priority in the Selection Process for Purchasing or Purchasing Social Housing on a Hire-Purchase Basis
One of the greatest barriers discouraging young people from having children is housing affordability. To address this issue:
- Under the social housing development policies of the 2023 Law on Housing, young households with two or more children are given priority points when applications to purchase or purchase social housing on a hire-purchase basis are assessed.
- Eligible households may also access preferential loan packages from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, with long-term preferential fixed interest rates and loan terms of up to 25 years, to finance home purchases or the renovation and construction of residential properties.
2.4. Maximizing Maternity Insurance Benefits under the 2024 Law on Social Insurance
Women participating in compulsory social insurance who give birth to two children are entitled to the full range of significant financial benefits, including:
- Six months of maternity benefits: Equivalent to 100% of the average salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions during the six months preceding maternity leave.
- Lump-sum childbirth allowance: Equivalent to twice the reference level for each child at the time of birth. This benefit also applies where only the father participates in social insurance and the mother does not.
- Leave entitlements for fathers: Male employees whose wives give birth are entitled to 5 to 14 working days of leave with social insurance benefits, depending on whether the birth is natural, by cesarean section, or involves twins.
2.5. Support for Early Childhood Education and Reductions in Financial Obligations
- Priority admission to public preschools: Children of couples who have two children before the age of 35 in industrial parks and densely populated urban areas are given priority for admission to public preschools and nurseries in their localities.
- Tuition and childcare cost support: Local authorities implement monthly childcare subsidies for the children of workers and employees in export processing zones and industrial parks.
- Personal income tax deductions for dependants: Having two children enables a taxpayer to claim family circumstance-based deductions for two dependants in accordance with the Law on Personal Income Tax, thereby significantly reducing the amount of personal income tax payable each month.
CONTACT LEGAL CONSULTANT:
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1. Lawyer Vu Thi Phuong Thanh, Ha Noi Bar Association
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Nguyen Thuy Duong