There are far more poor people in Ho Chi Minh City than in Hanoi when a multi-dimensional poverty approach is adopted, despite higher average incomes in the southern city.
The 2009 Urban Poverty Survey, which was launched in Hanoi Wednesday, showed a higher poverty rate in HCMC in seven out of eight measures of poverty, including social welfare, education, health, housing, housing area and quality, participation in social activities and security.
However, if the traditional way to measure poverty, based on income is adopted, the poverty rate in (prior to expansion) Hanoi in 2009 was higher than in HCMC on all benchmarks.
The capital had 1.27 percent of its population living under the 2006 national income poverty line (about US$1 per day), compared to 0.31 percent in the southern city.
The figure increased to 1.34 percent and 4.57 percent for international standards of $1.25 and $2 per day in Hanoi, much higher than 0.29 percent and 2.08 percent in HCMC.
Although a small part of the population in the two biggest cities were living below the poverty line, more than one-third of the population in both places had no access to social security networks and were living in low quality, cramped dwellings, the survey found.
A higher proportion of people in HCMC were living in overcrowded living conditions - defined as less than 7 square meters per person - than in Hanoi (31 percent versus 26 percent).
While 9.8 percent of Hanoi's population did not go to junior-secondary school, almost 27 percent of HCMC population were in this category. Similarly, more than one in every five people in Hanoi had a university degree while the rate was only one in 10 in HCMC.
More than seven in every 10 people living in Hanoi had some forms of health insurance, a sharp difference with nearly six in 10 in HCMC.
There were significant differences between the two cities in terms of employment, the survey found.
University degree-holding workers in Hanoi almost doubled those in HCMC; and compared to the southern city, twice as high the proportion of workers in the capital had permanent work contracts, which meant more work-related benefits.
The multi-dimensional poverty indices also revealed inequalities between rural and urban areas, and unregistered or temporary migrants compared to permanent residents in both cities.
For instance, a majority of migrants (62 percent) were living in cramped space, a sharp contrast with the registered resident population of both cities (17 percent).
"The results clearly show that while Hanoi and HCMC have enjoyed tremendous economic growth, this has not benefited everyone living in the two cities," said UNDP country director Setsuko Yamazaki.
So the research clearly pointed to the fact that both cities were facing challenges in ensuring sustainable and equal economic and social development, she said.
The survey, conducted in October and November last year with the participation of more than 8,200 people, was the only source of information on poverty and living conditions among migrants in Vietnam's two biggest cities, said Hanoi People's Committee deputy chairman Hoang Manh Hien.
"This is the first time a project has adopted a multi-dimensional study of poverty in Hanoi and HCMC," he said.
UNDP expert Nguyen Bui Linh said the income/expenditure approach to assess poverty had major limitations as income was not the only determining factor in assessing standards of living.
The Urban Poverty Survey was conducted by the General Statistics Office and the two municipal People's Committees with the support of the UNDP.
