September: 2007
Differential Retirement Age:Another Face to Gender Discrimination
By Gita Sabharwal and Than Thi Thien Huong1
Introduction
1.
Vietnam is aiming high. Over the past decades it has seen rapid and
comprehensive change with consistent high rates of economic growth and
poverty reduction. It has joined the world economy and is aiming to be a
middle income country by 2010 and an industrialised nation by 2020. Despite
this rapid pace of change Vietnam remains wedded to the principle of
differential retirement age for women and men across all sectors of the
economy, including the civil service.
2.
Women are well represented in the labour market but unequal
labour laws apply. This is reflected in the high levels of women’s work
participation rate which are nearly identical to men, at 89%. Analysis suggests
that only 26% of working women are engaged in white collar wage
employment of which nearly half are working in the government sector2. All
these women predominate in lower level civil service including teachers,
health care workers etc. According to the labour law all women in the formal
economy have to retire at 55 – five years earlier to men.
3.
This note examines the issue of differential retirement age as
another face of gender discrimination in Vietnam. It takes a historical
perspective and examines the origins of this differential policy. It then
discusses the impact of this policy on women working in the civil service. It
highlights the key findings of the recent public debate on this issue and ends
by making a case for change in the labour law to provide women civil servants
the right to retire at the same age as men.
Resistance to Change
4.
Historically women working in the state sector in Vietnam (since
1962) have retired at 55 – five years before men. This was a preferential
treatment policy for women adopted by the Communist Party and the
Government of Vietnam (GoV). The purpose of the policy was to reduce
public responsibility for women and ensure they had more time to take care of
their family. It promoted the “reproductive” role of women. This state policy is
a reflection of a “paternalistic” attitude where women were considered
physically weaker than men and thus the need to retire earlier than men. This
policy was widely accepted and welcomed by both men and women.
5.
Rapid integration of Vietnam into the world economy has not been
accompanied by a trend towards equalising the retirement age across
the civil service. Most countries in East Asia have put in place an open and
1
2
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not of the organisation that they work for.
A Gender Analysis of the 2004 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey, Sunhwa Lee, 2006
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September: 2007
meritocractic system for civil service regardless of gender. Vietnam and China
along with Lao are amongst the few countries in the region that continue to
have a civil service which discriminates against women by denying them the
right to retire at the same age as men.
6.
The Party and the National Assembly are resistant to change the
policy on women’s retirement age. In a recent National Assembly debate
(November 2006) on the Gender Equality Law, the Members of Parliament
(MPs) over ruled the government’s option favouring equal retirement
opportunity for women civil servants. Over two thirds of the MPs voted in
favour of women retiring early3. Considering that the National Assembly is
male dominated at four men for every woman, this resistance to change is not
surprising. It shows that the Communist Party despite being forward looking in
its vision for the country continues to demonstrate and ascribe to older
patriarchal norms and value systems by focusing on women’s traditional role
as a care giver. The state continues to place great emphasis on women’s role
as mothers, reflecting the basic values of the society. This reinforces
stereotyped gender role and also protects men’s career promotion
opportunities as corroborated by the VASS Survey4 (2006).
7.
This resistance is also reflected amongst the common person in
Vietnam. Three opinion polls were conducted on this issue in 2006 5. Though
these opinion polls are not representative they are an indication of
Vietnamese values and beliefs. Majority of the people (including women)
polled continue to hold the belief that women being physically weaker then
men should retire earlier, including civil servants. This finding is corroborated
by the VASS survey. It found that over 80% of men and women believe that
early retirement is good for women as it allows them to take care of
themselves and their family. Under half of the people polled (ranging from
46% to 27%)6 believe that women have the right to retire at the same age as
men, if they wish to do so.
Early Retirement, Unequal Work Opportunities
8.
This policy is resulting in gender inequalities with women underrepresented in senior civil service positions and only one in ten being a
woman. Analysis shows that women account for only 12% of Ministers, 7% of
Vice Ministers, 12% of Directors and 8% of Vice Directors in the civil service.
This is comparable to China where for every ten men less than two women
are in senior decision making positions across the government and the Party 7.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that having women Ministers in Vietnam results
in more women being promoted to senior positions within the government.
3
National Assembly Website:www.na.gov.vn
50% women and 49% men suggested that early retirement for women is very good for men’s career opportunities.
5
Online debate by VietnamNet, April 2006 (on-going); Tuoi Tre (Youth Newspaper) Opinion Poll, 2006; and VASS
Survey, 2005.
6
46% according to Tuoi Tre, 40% according to VASS Survey and 27% according to Vietnam Net.
7
In China, female officials constitute 8% of Ministerial rank officials, 12% of prefecture officials and 16% of county
officials in 2002.
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September: 2007
This shows the bias of the existing system and the trend for male dominated
civil service to continue to reinforce it self.
9.
Early retirement also results in women not being promoted to
senior management positions across the civil service and in turn
protects career promotion opportunities for men. Even though the
promotion policies stipulate the same age for both men and women, evidence
shows that women are disadvantaged in promotion to management level. Le
Thi Quy the Director, Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies says that
“…women are not given promotions after they turn 50, while men are given
until 55, making it harder for women to climb the corporate ladder”8.
10.
Women also have fewer opportunities for on-the-job-training and
career development. Early retirement reduces the chances of women being
trained, which in turn impacts on promotions. Lower age of retirement is an
excuse for lowering the cut-off age for participating in training and reduces
opportunities for promotion. Some training policies stipulate a five year age
threshold lower for women. At the age of 50, women are not likely to get
prioritised for long term training.
11.
Early retirement prevents women from getting to the highest
grade in the salary scale thus making their pension only 2/3 of men’s for
the same job9. Age of service in turn reflects on the retirement benefits, and
the discrimination continues well past retirement from service. Lower levels of
pension compromises the quality of life for women and their families in the
long run.
Giving Public Policy a Gendered Face
12.
However, there are a lot of men and women in the government
who are sceptical about the fairness of rules of yesteryears. The
Chairperson of the Women’s Union, Ha Thi Khiet acknowledges that the
differential retirement age is no longer appropriate for civil servants10. From an
economic perspective to let women civil servants, who are well educated to
retire at 55 is a serious waste of human resource. It’s critical for Vietnam,
which it’s poised to become a middle income country to maximise the
efficiency of its human resource – one of its key asset - to achieve its goals,
regardless of gender.
13.
With Vietnam aiming high the time to change this archaic policy
has arrived. This face of gender inequality can partly be addressed by policy
revisions to the labour law, which will allow women civil servants the right to
retire at the same age as men. The government is expected to submit the
revised labour law for approval to the National Assembly later in 2008. This
agenda of change demands active donor support. The next cycle of the
8
January 2007, Interview in Capital Women.
Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, 2006
10
January 2006, Interview in Capital Women Newspaper
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September: 2007
Poverty Reduction Support Credit is a window of opportunity with revisions to
the labour code being made a policy action for the upcoming year.
14.
However, policy revisions alone will not help address this face of
gender inequality. For policies to be transformational they will need to be
backed by an informed comprehensive approach to address patriarchal
attitudes and promote the value of gender equality across all sections of the
society. Empowering women will remain central to the agenda of
transformation.
References
Bettina Gransow, 2006. Gender Gaps and Poverty Reduction in China
Government of Vietnam,
Development Goals.
2005.
Vietnam
Achieving
the
Millennium
Government of Vietnam, 2006, Gender Equality Law.
Government of Vietnam, 2007. National Assembly Wesbiste –www.na.gov.vn
Naila Kabeer, Tran thi Van anh, Vu Manh Loi2005. Preparing for the Future:
Forward Looking Strategies to Promote Gender Equity in Viet Nam.
Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, 2006. Retirement Age for Women Civil Servants.
Sunhwa Lee, 2006. A Gender Analysis of the 2004 Vietnam Living Standard
Survey.
Tuoi Tre (Youth Newspaper), 2006. Opinion Poll on Retirement Age.
Vietnam Academy of Social Science, 2006. Household Survey on Men and
Women in Vietnam.
VietnamNet, April 2006. Online debate on Retirement Age for Women (ongoing).
World Bank, 2006. Vietnam Gender Assessment.
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