Meeting reviews performance of Party resolution on social policies

• Party Resolution on international economic integration

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a meeting in Hanoi on March 24 to review the implementation of the Resolution on several social policy issues for the 2012-2020 period adopted by the fifth plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee.

According to a report delivered by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, 24 out of 26 targets have been met and surpassed.

Among 9.2 million national contributors across the country, over 1.3 million are entitled to enjoy monthly allowances. Up to 99.5 percent of households of national contributors have living standards equal to or above the average living standards of local residents.

Jobs are created for 1.5-1.6 million domestic workers each year and more than 100,000 are sent abroad for contract jobs. The unemployment rate is about 2-2.2 percent and that in urban areas is below 3.5 percent.

Last year, nearly 300,000 workers joined voluntary social insurance schemes, bringing the total to around 574,000. Some 85.3 million people, or 90 percent of the population, joined health insurance, four years earlier than the resolution’s target.

About 3 percent of the population enjoy monthly allowances, including 1.65 million elder people.

Concluding the event, PM Phuc requested reducing the rate of malnourished children under five and improving access to clean water up to national standards in rural areas.

He emphasized that social policies must ensure comprehensive and inclusive development, narrow the wealth gap and reduce social inequality.

The government leader ordered efforts to study a scheme on social policies for the 2021-2030 period to submit to the Party Central Committee for consideration.

In the short term, further attention should be paid to pooling all possible resources to fight COVID-19, considering a national social welfare relief package, continuing to refine laws in various areas, and improving the quantity and quality of basic social services, he said.

The PM urged developing a flexible, diverse, multi-level and modern social insurance system towards social insurance for all people, especially voluntary social insurance in agriculture and unofficial labor.