New poverty criteria to double the poor

The number of the poor in Hanoi will double, to about 700,000, when the new poverty standard becomes effective during the 2011-15 period.

According to the new standard, which was approved by the municipal People's Committee, poor households are categorised as those with an average income that is less than 750,000 VND (38 USD) per person per month in urban areas and 550,000 VND (28 USD) in rural areas.

The new level is about 200,000 VND (10 USD) higher than the current category.

Average income levels for households near the poverty line will be between 38.5 – 51 USD in urban areas and 28-38 USD in rural areas.

The municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimated that with the new standard the capital city would have more than 148,000 poor households and nearly 61,500 households living near the poverty line, which account for 3.98 percent of the population.

Deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phi Thai Binh said the city would need about 5 trillion VND (256 million USD) for anti-poverty programmes in the next five years to bring the capital's poverty rate down to 2 percent by 2015.

"An increasing amount of impoverished citizens would create many challenges, especially with financial resource in the future," said head of the city's Labour Department Nguyen Dinh Duc.

"We will have to mobilise resources from businesses and individuals to help reduce the capital's poverty rate by at least 1.8-2 percent each year," said Duc.

With current regulations that were applied during the 2009-2013 period, 4.48 percent of the city's population (nearly 7 million) are impoverished. 8.43 percent of households in the capital were impoverished during the beginning of 2009./.

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New poverty criteria will double the poor

HA NOI — The number of the poor in Ha Noi will double, to about 700,000, when the new poverty standard becomes effective during the 2011-15 period.

According to the new standard, which was approved by the municipal People's Committee, poor households are categorised as those with an average income that is less than VND750,000 (US$38) per person per month in urban areas and VND550,000 ($28) in rural areas.

The new level is about VND200,000 ($10) higher than the current category.

Average income levels for households near the poverty line will be between $38.5 – 51 in urban areas and $28-38 in rural areas.

The municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimated that with the new standard the capital city would have more than 148,000 poor households and nearly 61,500 households living near the poverty line, which account for 3.98 per cent of the population.

Deputy chairman of the municipal People's Committee Phi Thai Binh said the city would need about VND5 trillion($256 million) for anti-poverty progra-mmes in the next five years to bring the capital's poverty rate down to 2 per cent by 2015.

"An increasing amount of impoverished citizens would create many challenges, especially with financial resource in the future," said head of the city's Labour Department Nguyen Dinh Duc.

"We will have to mobilise resources from businesses and individuals to help reduce the capital's poverty rate by at least 1.8-2 per cent each year," said Duc.

With current regulations that were applied during the 2009-2013 period, 4.48 per cent of the city's population (nearly 7 million) are impoverished. 8.43 per cent of households in the capital were impoverished during the beginning of 2009. — VNS

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Raising the bar

People register for loans from Ba Be District's Social Policy Bank in the northern province of Bac Kan. The country will have 3.3 million poor households under a proposal to adjust the poverty line. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is proposing to raise the poverty line in both urban and rural areas.

According to a proposal that has been submitted to the Prime Minister, the new poverty line for people in urban areas would be a monthly income of VND500,000 (US$26) and for rural areas VND400,000 ($21). The current poverty line is at VND260,000 ($13.6) in urban areas and VND200,000 ($10.5) in rural areas.

Ngo Truong Thi, deputy director of the Social Protection Department of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the poverty line had to be regularly readjusted.

Every year, the ministry re-evaluates the poverty threshold, said Thi. Adjustments to the poverty line can change the number of people eligible for the government's social welfare policies.

Thi said the nation's poverty reduction programmes had gained positive results, but keeping people out of poverty was difficult.

The new poverty line, if applied, would increase the number of poor households in the country from 11 per cent to 15 per cent, rising to about 3.3 million households.

The proposed change to the poverty line has taken into account people's basic spending needs, prioritise poor people in remote and mountainous areas and be comparable with poverty lines across the region and around the world.

Thi said budget allocations for poverty reduction programmes, based on the new poverty line, would be increased by VND5.7 trillion ($300 million) from next year. Funds allocated for the programme from 2006 to 2010 totalled at VND43 trillion ($2.3 billion).

The proposed poverty line, if approved by the Government, will be considered the minimum level. Localities can adjust their own figure to a higher level in a way that suits the local conditions.

Currently, there are nine provinces and cities applying a poverty line that is higher than the national standard. These provinces and cities, which enjoy higher living standards than in other parts of the country, include Binh Duong, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, Long An provinces and HCM City and Ha Noi

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said the poverty reduction programme must help poor families to secure good jobs rather than simply handing out welfare payments.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam affirmed that the programme would not only ensure poor households of both basic spending on foods but also accommodation, health care and education. — VNS

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