According to the provincial Social Insurance, the number of workers withdrawing one-time social insurance in the province has in recent years increased, about 60,000 people withdrawing for many different reasons on average each year. To help workers maintain social insurance payments, and have pensions when they retire and other social security benefits, the provincial social insurance has coordinated to propagate the benefits of social insurance to each employee at businesses.
Tan Uyen city Social Insurance propagates the Social Insurance Law to employees at businesses in the area
Withdrawing social insurance due to difficulties in employment and income
Recent statistics show that on average each year, hundreds of thousands of workers quit their jobs and preserve their social insurance books. In the each year from 2018 to 2022, about 60,000 people in the province were conducting one-time withdrawing of social insurance payements, leaving the number of people receiving pension to only 6,738, accounting for 0.64% of the number of people participating in social insurance until 2022 (6,738 out of 1,050,380 people).
The analysis shows that the average age for taking one-time leave from social insurance is 35.81 years old for men and 35.65 for women with the largest concentration in the age group of 20 to 40; this figure accounted for 76% of the total number of people receiving one-time social insurance. This age group withdraws social insurance in one lump sum mainly to satisfy immediate needs as well as to deal with financial pressures such as getting married and raising children, so they want to enjoy it in one lump sum rather than worrying about receiving a pension when they turn old. Regarding the total time of paying social insurance, the average is about 5 years for men and 6 years for women.
Regarding the cause, in recent years, the employment market is facing many difficulties and challenges due to the prolonged epidemic and the impact of the global economic recession. Binh Duong - a province with many industrial parks and clusters – was severely affected by unemployment and job loss due to businesses having to cut orders. Thereby, many workers found it difficult to find new jobs and face financial drawbacks. After 12 months of not continuing to pay social insurance, they opt to withdraw social insurance all at once. As for workers, many people think that their current income is only enough to ensure their immediate life and accumulate with little savings when quitting your job, leaving you to run out of money in the tendency to receive one-time social insurance.
The provincial social insurance believes that receiving one-time social insurance will affect the income security of workers in old age, pushing themselves out of the social safety net system in Vietnam, and reducing the significance of social security policies, making it impossible to continuously maintain income for workers in the current context of an aging population. The situation is worrying by directly affecting not only the rights of workers but also the goals, efforts and determination of the Party and government to implement social security for the entire population, not to leave anyone behind.
To promote propaganda
In fact, the one-time social insurance offers employees much less than the amount of social insurance contributions. Specifically, the employee's social insurance payment in 1 year is equal to 2.64 months' salary, but this amount is equivalent to 1.5 months' salary for the same year of payment on receiving one-time before 2014 and 2 months for 2014 onwards. Workers lose the opportunity to enjoy a pension, a stable and useful source of income when they get old, and lose the opportunity to receive a free health insurance card when they finish working.
Meanwhile, pensioners are issued free health insurance cards from the time they receive their pension until death with high benefits (the health insurance benefit level for retirees is 95%, while the health insurance benefit level for household health insurance buyers 95% and family 80%). In old age, many people are at greater risk of facing illness and disease, so sharing most of the medical examination and treatment funding from the Health Insurance Fund will reduce economic pressure for their children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, if a pensioner dies, their relatives will be entitled to full death benefits and funeral expenses according to regulations, but for a non-pensioner, they will not.
Nguyen Duy Hieu, Deputy Director of the provincial Social Insurance, said: "The provincial Social Insurance has been closely coordinating with relevant local authorities to strengthen information and propaganda work to employees with legal regulations on social insurance benefits in many forms on social networks, media, and leaflets. Along with that, the unit coordinates with the Trade Union and grassroots trade unions in districts, towns and cities to directly propagate to many businesses with content advising employees on buying, selling, transferring or pledging or mortgaging social insurance books in illegal acts, contract authorizing the settlement of one-time social insurance benefits without a legitimate reason should not be signed in any manner."
The provincial social insurance cooperates with the police to investigate the impersonation of Facebook accounts with the name of the social insurance agency by culprits to handle them according to current laws. The police have also stepped in to verify, investigate, clarify, and strictly handle individuals and organizations that buy workers' books. The social insurance agency propagates to let workers know that when leaving the social insurance system, there are many disadvantages for them to consider before deciding to choose the one-time social insurance options. At the same time, the provincial social insurance strengthens the management of social insurance benefits, ensures benefits for workers, and prevents abuse of funds, promotes the application of information technology to promptly detect acts of profiteering from social insurance benefits of employees and employers.
Nguyen Ky Anh, Deputy Director of Tan Uyen city Social Insurance, said: “In recent months, Tan Uyen city Social Insurance has coordinated with the city Trade Union and grassroots to have organized propaganda of the Social Insurance Law to 6 enterprises, attracting tens of thousands of workers. Thereby, the activity has helped workers better understand the revised Social Insurance Law, the benefits of participating in long-term social insurance and better understanding of the social security policies of the Party and State. Tan Uyen city Social Insurance will continue to do this more in the future."
Reported by Quang Tam – Translated by Vi Bao
